as in to misunderstand
to fail to understand the true or actual meaning of
humor-challenged members of the audience misperceived the speaker's harmless joke as an insult to their organization
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Recent Examples of misperceive
According to the researchers, these misperceptions may stop people from speaking up about their concerns and cause policymakers to misperceive how much their constituents care.
—
Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2023
Russian pilots could misperceive the escorts as offensive NATO warplanes and engage them, precipitating a disaster with unknown consequences.
—Rebeccah Heinrichs, National Review, 24 Feb. 2022
In this state, the concept extends to dog bites – even if the owner did not intend that Rover would bite anyone and did not anticipate that the dog might misperceive the victim’s intent or might remember the victim was hostile to him in the past.
—Donna Engle, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 May 2021
Americans often misperceive historical inequities as personal failures.
—Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2020
Laura Schulte, Journal Sentinel, 28 Apr. 2023
Russian pilots could misperceive the escorts as offensive NATO warplanes and engage them, precipitating a disaster with unknown consequences.
—Rebeccah Heinrichs, National Review, 24 Feb. 2022
In this state, the concept extends to dog bites – even if the owner did not intend that Rover would bite anyone and did not anticipate that the dog might misperceive the victim’s intent or might remember the victim was hostile to him in the past.
—Donna Engle, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 8 May 2021
Americans often misperceive historical inequities as personal failures.
—Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 3 Aug. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misperceive
misunderstand
Verb
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While many people get covid after receiving a covid shot, because the vaccine’s ability to prevent infection wears off pretty fast, some misunderstand the purpose of the shot, said Otto Yang, an infectious disease specialist at UCLA Health.—
Phillip Reese,
CNN Money,
5 Nov. 2025
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So both sides have misunderstood his constituency.—
Newsweek Staff,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Misperceive.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misperceive. Accessed 11 Dec. 2025.
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