as in to misstate
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 misspeak
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—
Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
Kennedy also seemed to misspeak in saying two people had died of measles.
—Amanda Seitz, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
People are just supposed to like you — you’re not supposed to misspeak, look fat, date the wrong person, have your makeup look a different color.
—Elias Leight, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2022
Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
Kennedy also seemed to misspeak in saying two people had died of measles.
—Amanda Seitz, Chicago Tribune, 26 Feb. 2025
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
People are just supposed to like you — you’re not supposed to misspeak, look fat, date the wrong person, have your makeup look a different color.
—Elias Leight, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2022
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misspeak
Verb
-
An earlier version misstated his status.—
Kevin Breuninger,
CNBC,
11 Mar. 2025
-
Due to the writer’s error, an earlier version of this story misstated and Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association’s position on greenhouse gas emissions standards.—
Allen Best,
The Denver Post,
10 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
That’s the paradox of conflict — our most instinctive reactions are often misinterpreted.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Apr. 2025
-
The same conflict, with a partial scientific understanding misinterpreted and used to justify resource extraction, is playing out in the Pacific, where mining pilot projects are already underway in international waters.—
Christian Elliott,
Smithsonian Magazine,
21 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
What To Know The complaint centers on claims that Tesla and CEO Musk repeatedly misrepresented these systems as fully autonomous or nearly so, even though the technology remains incomplete.—
Ross Rosenfeld,
MSNBC Newsweek,
22 Apr. 2025
-
Sadly, this claim misrepresents research, and this script (which is recited by a series of child narrators) will only contribute to the misinformation about child maltreatment that seems to be guiding public sentiment and public policy.—
Emily Putnam-Hornstein and Naomi Schaefer Riley,
Twin Cities,
13 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
What’s reflected may still be distorted, but at least the mirror is now a little less foggy.—
Diana Spehar,
Forbes.com,
1 May 2025
-
By distorting Judaism to minimize, or even erase, the Jewish connection to Israel, JVP seeks to undermine one of the most sacred tenets of our faith and identity.—
Chai Posner,
Baltimore Sun,
30 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
The Limits of Expansion Since mathematicians began studying expander graphs in the 1960s, they’ve been used to model the brain (opens a new tab), perform statistical analyses, and build error-correcting codes — encrypted messages that can be read even if they get garbled in transmission.—
Leila Sloman,
Quanta Magazine,
18 Apr. 2025
-
Data-poisoning tools like Nightshade, which can garble some AI outputs, may be a more effective solution for concerned artists.—
Kate Irwin,
PCMAG,
8 Oct. 2024
Verb
-
For example: ten days before he was sworn in, Trump had been sentenced to unconditional discharge on thirty-four felony counts of falsifying business records.—
Jia Tolentino,
New Yorker,
3 May 2025
-
Darby fired Chief after sustaining charges of disobeying an order, failing to use a body camera during a call for service, falsifying a record and lying to officials.—
Don Stacom,
Hartford Courant,
1 May 2025
Verb
-
Also, drivers for their homemade-food delivery service, Meals in a Pinch, encountered many single, older men who didn't get out, or cook.—
Ashley Milne-Tyte,
NPR,
24 Apr. 2025
-
Stir in the spinach (in batches, if necessary) and cook, tossing or stirring gently, until wilted, 1 to 2 minutes.—
The Washington Post,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
23 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Some firms, however, have more adaptable structures that allow for individual initiatives and self-managing networks of autonomous teams, that are assembled and dissembled as needs are met.—
Joe McKendrick,
Forbes.com,
26 Apr. 2025
-
The Kill or Capture Presidency You’d like your government to tell you the truth, and the government dissembled repeatedly after the raid about what the rules of engagement were.—
Aryeh Neier,
The New York Review of Books,
3 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Misspeak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspeak. Accessed 7 May. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share