as in illegitimate
born to a father and mother who are not married
a misbegotten child who never knew his father
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of misbegotten
Every year, the Globes’ most misbegotten category gets more hilarious.
—
Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Dec. 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
Joe Reid, Vulture, 8 Dec. 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
-
But then a mysterious Romany woman (Rebecca Ferguson) turns up, and persuades him to return to Birmingham, in order to bring his violent illegitimate son (Barry Keoghan) – who now runs his Peaky Blinders mob – to heel.—
The Week UK,
TheWeek,
12 Mar. 2026
-
In a July public comment letter, Experian argued it should not be required to respond to individual CFPB complaints and that the vast majority of those filed recently are illegitimate.—
Joel Jacobs,
CNN Money,
11 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misbegotten.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misbegotten. Accessed 21 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
