misrepresent

verb

mis·​rep·​re·​sent (ˌ)mis-ˌre-pri-ˈzent 

misrepresented; misrepresenting; misrepresents

transitive verb

1

: to give a false or misleading representation of usually with an intent to deceive or be unfair

misrepresented the facts

2

: to serve badly or improperly as a representative of

misrepresentation

(ˌ)mis-ˌre-pri-ˌzen-ˈtā-shən 

-zən-

noun

misrepresentative

(ˌ)mis-ˌre-pri-ˈzen-tə-tiv 

adjective

Synonyms of misrepresent

• distort

Examples of misrepresent in a Sentence

The company is accused of misrepresenting its earnings.

The movie deliberately misrepresents the facts about her life.

Recent Examples on the Web

Bohm’s lawsuit, which was filed in Philadelphia County on March 25, alleged Daniel and Lisa committed financial impropriety while running limited liability companies on his behalf and misrepresented their stakes in those entities. — Charlotte Varnes, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026

The lawsuit claimed State Farm violated state code over its practices toward additional living expense coverage, including by misrepresenting the terms of such coverage and by paying late. — Paris Barraza, USA Today, 1 Sep. 2026

Reddington accused Grace of misrepresenting some of the facts related to some of Clancy’s Google searches. — Jon Blistein, Rolling Stone, 1 Sep. 2026

Meta this week agreed to pay almost $17 billion in a landmark settlement with a coalition of state AGs that had sued the company for misrepresenting the extent of child mental health damage caused by Facebook and Instagram. — Jonathan Vanian, CNBC, 30 Aug. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1649, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misrepresent

• accent
• advent
• ascent
• assent
• augment
• cement
• consent
• dement
• descent
• detent
• dissent
• event

Kids Definition

misrepresent

verb

mis·​rep·​re·​sent (ˌ)mis-ˌrep-ri-ˈzent 

: to give a false or misleading idea of

misrepresentation

(ˌ)mis-ˌrep-ri-ˌzen-ˈtā-shən 

noun

Legal Definition

misrepresent

transitive verb

mis·​rep·​re·​sent mis-ˌre-pri-ˈzent 

: to make a misrepresentation about

intransitive verb

: to make a misrepresentation

misrepresentative

-ˌre-pri-ˈzen-tə-tiv 

adjective

misrepresenter noun