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 appeals court upheld a lower court’s ruling denying Carollo’s motion for a mistrial. —Miami Herald, 4 Sep. 2025

Read’s first trial ended in mistrial, and she was acquitted in the second trial. —Bethy Squires, Vulture, 29 Aug. 2025

Idaho State Police did not respond to that request and did not answer the Statesman’s questions about the mistrial. —Sally Krutzig, Idaho Statesman, 28 Aug. 2025

The trial was the second for Read after an earlier one ended in a mistrial. —Rick Porter, HollywoodReporter, 27 Aug. 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