as in to miss
to fail to understand the true or actual meaning of
you misunderstood that poem because you took everything so literally
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Recent Examples of misunderstand
Why does television so misunderstand Gen Z?
—
Nikki Sternberg, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
There’s much to misunderstand about minimalism.
—Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
King was right that excluding Carrie’s commentary made And Just Like That … feel like a fundamentally different show, but that misunderstands a mechanism that made Sex and the City tick.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Saturday that Witkoff had misunderstood Russia's position on a ceasefire deal, taking Putin's demands for Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as an offer for Moscow to pull troops from the two regions.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misunderstand
Nikki Sternberg, HollywoodReporter, 18 Aug. 2025
There’s much to misunderstand about minimalism.
—Patricia Shannon, Better Homes & Gardens, 16 Aug. 2025
King was right that excluding Carrie’s commentary made And Just Like That … feel like a fundamentally different show, but that misunderstands a mechanism that made Sex and the City tick.
—Jackson McHenry, Vulture, 15 Aug. 2025
Germany's Bild newspaper reported on Saturday that Witkoff had misunderstood Russia's position on a ceasefire deal, taking Putin's demands for Ukraine to withdraw from Donetsk, Zaporizhzhia and Kherson as an offer for Moscow to pull troops from the two regions.
—Ellie Cook, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for misunderstand
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misunderstand
Verb
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For reference, in Europe’s top five leagues last season, 514 penalties were taken and 94 saved (with another 14 missed), putting the general save rate at around 18 per cent.—
Nick Miller,
New York Times,
4 Sep. 2025
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Its 2021 return to profitability was short-lived, with pre-tax profits plummeting from $29 million in 2022 to $10 million in 2023, a year when global revenue growth was flat and the company missed internal forecasts.—
Gemma Allen,
Forbes.com,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The majority of shark bites happen accidentally, with the predators mistaking people for their preferred meal -- smaller fish.—
David Goodhue,
Miami Herald,
2 Sep. 2025
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This isn't the first time that Hudson has been mistaken for wearing one of her beau's winning rings.—
Tabitha Parent,
People.com,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Paul Offit, director of the Vaccine Education Center at the University of Pennsylvania, and a vocal Kennedy critic, said Trump might be misreading the MAHA appeal in trying to appease his base.—
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy,
USA Today,
4 Sep. 2025
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Trump has thus misread the Brazilian political landscape by assuming that external pressure would weaken Lula, overlooking the extent to which Brazil’s economic interdependence with China and the pragmatism of its electorate constrain any sharp foreign policy realignment in Washington’s favor.—
HUSSEIN KALOUT,
Foreign Affairs,
2 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But for others, this stability is misconstrued as a sign that effort is no longer needed.—
Mark Travers,
Forbes.com,
29 Aug. 2025
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In retrospect Winnie realizes it was misconstrued.—
Gloria Pazmino,
CNN Money,
21 Aug. 2025
Verb
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The seemingly unassuming coming-of-ager – a sunny portrait of happy high-school adolescence in Seoul – builds in complexity as a vision of livewire student’s Joo-in’s courage and resilience in the face of trauma, unknown and then misinterpreted by her equally young classmates.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
6 Sep. 2025
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Others gave unclear answers that could be misinterpreted if one isn’t well-versed in state law, which as Andrade and Scott pointed out, gives pretty broad exemptions for parents who want to opt their children out of drug immunization.—
Alexandra Glorioso,
Miami Herald,
4 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But would her students, turned on everywhere by the dogma of political correctness, misapprehend Haynes’s aim?—
Doreen St. Félix,
The New Yorker,
22 June 2023
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Some people misapprehend it and think of as imitation.—
New York Times,
New York Times,
17 Nov. 2021
Cite this Entry
“Misunderstand.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misunderstand. Accessed 10 Sep. 2025.
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