as in illegitimate
born to a father and mother who are not married
a misbegotten child who never knew his father
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Recent Examples of misbegotten
This was a misbegotten effort to create a crisis in Lebanon, which M.B.S. thought would harm Hezbollah, but actually harmed Hezbollah’s opponents, such as the Lebanese Prime Minister himself, Saad Hariri.
—
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2025
Dennings, 39, tells us about her own misbegotten Halloween attire and more.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Because the Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger are essentially identical, save for their engines and some unibody sheet metal beneath the exterior body panels, there exist many misbegotten conversions as well as some quite deceptive clones.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 22 Aug. 2025
Scenes stretch on too long, Lynette’s misbegotten plans play out in predictable fashion, and even a handful of genuinely thrilling action sequences (like Lynette’s escape from that grimy garage, told through an eye-popping oner) can’t quite keep things ticking along.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbegotten
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 18 Nov. 2025
Dennings, 39, tells us about her own misbegotten Halloween attire and more.
—Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 29 Oct. 2025
Because the Sunbeam Alpine and Tiger are essentially identical, save for their engines and some unibody sheet metal beneath the exterior body panels, there exist many misbegotten conversions as well as some quite deceptive clones.
—Robert Ross, Robb Report, 22 Aug. 2025
Scenes stretch on too long, Lynette’s misbegotten plans play out in predictable fashion, and even a handful of genuinely thrilling action sequences (like Lynette’s escape from that grimy garage, told through an eye-popping oner) can’t quite keep things ticking along.
—Kate Erbland, IndieWire, 14 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misbegotten
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misbegotten
illegitimate
Adjective
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At the start of the season, Sophie — who was born out of an illegitimate relationship between her father, Lord Penwood, and her mother, his maid and mistress — is living with and working for Lady Araminta (Katie Leung), her father's widow.—
Jordana Comiter,
PEOPLE,
31 Jan. 2026
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Apple Music introduced fraud penalties back in 2022, where along with demonetizing the illegitimate streams themselves, the company employed a sliding scale of fining fraudsters a fee calculated on what would’ve been royalties.—
Ethan Millman,
HollywoodReporter,
30 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misbegotten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbegotten. Accessed 5 Feb. 2026.
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