mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī(-ə)l 

: a trial that has no legal effect with regard to one or more of the charges brought against the defendant because of some serious error or prejudicial misconduct in the proceedings or a hung jury

Examples of mistrial in a Sentence

The judge declared a mistrial.

Recent Examples on the Web

The first trial ended in July 2024 when the judge declared a mistrial following five days of deadlocked jury deliberations. —Sean Neumann, People.com, 25 June 2025

Lewd messages revealed The deliberations come nearly a year after the prosecution’s first case against Read ended in a mistrial, when a jury could not come to a unanimous verdict on the charges against her. —Karissa Waddick, USA Today, 16 June 2025

Read All About It The retrial of Harvey Weinstein ended abruptly in a mistrial when the jury foreperson refused to join deliberations on the remaining rape charge involving former actor Jessica Mann. —Elizabeth Robinson, NBC news, 13 June 2025

Farber declared a mistrial weeks after rejecting a Weinstein attorney’s request for a mistrial stemming from courtroom tensions with Mann. —Alexandra Del Rosario, Los Angeles Times, 12 June 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1628, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for mistrial

• denial
• posttrial
• pretrial
• retrial
• dial
• rial
• thiol
• trial
• vial
• sensorial
• supervisorial

Kids Definition

mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī(-ə)l 

: a trial that is cancelled because of an error in the proceedings

Legal Definition

mistrial

noun

mis·​tri·​al ˈmis-ˌtrī-əl 

: a trial that terminates without a verdict because of error, necessity, prejudicial misconduct, or a hung jury see also manifest necessity compare dismissal sense 2, trial de novo