as in to misstate
Related Words
Relevance
Dissimilar Words
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
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
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
-
That's because the section in the FACE Act criminalizing interference at houses of worship fundamentally misstates the rights people have under the First Amendment.—
Sarah N. Lynch,
CBS News,
27 Feb. 2026
-
An earlier version of this story misstated Nvidia’s revenue guidance.—
Alexei Oreskovic,
Fortune,
26 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
One reason is that your words could come across differently depending on the person reading the message, so stick to using short sentences to avoid being misinterpreted.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
26 Feb. 2026
-
The administration misinterprets a Nixon-era law in its bid to reimpose tariffs struck down by the Supreme Court.—
Editorial Board,
Washington Post,
24 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
With many health influencers giving it a bad reputation, this naturally occurring hormone has been largely misrepresented as of late.—
Caitlin Pagán,
Verywell Health,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Walmart will pay up to $100 million to settle a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and 11 states alleging the company withheld tips and misrepresented wages to drivers who deliver orders as part of its Spark program.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
His voice grew distorted as the microphone struggled to contain the decibels.—
Aidan McLaughlin,
Vanity Fair,
25 Feb. 2026
-
Black history has been erased and distorted in this country from the beginning.—
Clint Smith,
The Atlantic,
25 Feb. 2026
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
-
SecNav’s just a big fan, and that message got garbled in a chain-of-command game of telephone.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
11 Feb. 2025
Verb
-
Adams also faced scrutiny in Kentucky for allegedly falsifying documents and submitting fraudulent letters of recommendation.—
Beth Warren,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Mar. 2026
-
Others confront technology’s emerging presence in rental properties, from artificial intelligence falsifying property image listings to portable solar energy powering up apartments.—
Amancai Biraben,
Oc Register,
27 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Add the garlic and cook one minute more.—
Oc Register,
Oc Register,
2 Mar. 2026
-
When the pasta has nearly finished cooking, drain the tomatoes, reserving both the tomatoes and the oil.—
Kate Williams,
AJC.com,
2 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Nor have the Trumps dissembled about Amazon’s payment of forty million dollars for the rights to the film—more than twice as much as the second-highest bid—with twenty-eight million reportedly flowing directly to the First Lady.—
David D. Kirkpatrick,
New Yorker,
8 Feb. 2026
-
With his multi-instrumentalist bandmates, PJ Moore and co-songwriter Robert Bell, Buchanan zooms into these exchanges to prolong them or dissembles them into jagged pieces that leave the bigger picture to us.—
Sam Sodomsky,
Pitchfork,
1 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misspeak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspeak. Accessed 5 Mar. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
