misunderstandings

noun

plural of misunderstanding
1
as in misinterpretations
a failure to understand correctly people once thought that there were canals on Mars because of a common misunderstanding of a report by an Italian astronomer

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in disagreements
an often noisy or angry expression of differing opinions tried to resolve their misunderstandings peacefully

Synonyms & Similar 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 misunderstandings Americans are in a perpetual debate, which is no surprise, as retrogrades are notorious for misunderstandings and communication errors. — Valerie Mesa, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026 Ideally, misunderstandings and disputes are resolved through conversation. — Deborah Mower, The Conversation, 2 July 2026 The idea is to allow for accidents, miscommunications or misunderstandings that the participants agree should not scuttle talks. — ABC News, 1 July 2026 Starting to collaborate early, and maintaining collaboration throughout every phase of the campaign process, is how teams can move away from working in siloes and decrease the chances of misunderstandings. — Kamya Elawadhi, Forbes.com, 1 July 2026 An element of confusion might create misunderstandings with romantic couples, the arts, sports and making social plans. — Georgia Nicols, Denver Post, 29 June 2026 False hopes about working in retirement speak to fundamental misunderstandings about retirement and the labor market, experts say. — Daniel De Visé, USA Today, 20 June 2026 Also, misunderstandings can be dangerous. — Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 20 June 2026 The misunderstandings are about people’s tones, and not necessarily about the things that people are pointing toward. — Senior Television, Los Angeles Times, 11 June 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misunderstandings
  1. misinterpretations
  2. disagreements
  3. mistakes
  4. disputes
  5. misapprehensions
  6. quarrels
  7. altercations
  8. controversies
Noun
  • The researchers say the inability of LLMs to provide the correct location is an inherent flaw that arises from training biases or from misinterpretations of instructions within the current context.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
  • An agent can’t reliably detect its own misinterpretations using the same model that generated them.
    — Stu Sjouwerman, Forbes.com, 25 June 2026
Definition of misinterpretations
Noun
  • Skills such as understanding another person's perspective, resolving disagreements, responding constructively to feedback and recovering from failure can all be taught.
    — Dan Fitzpatrick, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
  • Rather, the point would be to convert disagreements regarding biodiversity into guidance for ongoing experimentation.
    — Taylor Dotson, Scientific American, 10 July 2026
Definition of disagreements
Noun
  • Long before ambient documentation arrived, patients were already reconciling medication lists, catching referral failures, correcting demographic mistakes, and trying to make sense of conflicting recommendations from different specialists.
    — Demetri Giannikopoulos, Forbes.com, 11 July 2026
  • Look at those two, growing and changing and admitting their mistakes!
    — Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 11 July 2026
Definition of mistakes
Noun
  • Herzog won a power struggle in the front office, then quit anyway, amid disputes with ownership.
    — Bill Shaikin, Los Angeles Times, 6 July 2026
  • According to Castillo, one of the most significant failures has been the tendency to treat many squatter complaints as civil disputes rather than criminal investigations.
    — Stepheny Price, FOXNews.com, 5 July 2026
Definition of disputes
Noun
  • Meanwhile, the New Atheists were making hay of the fact that such faithful misapprehensions about nature were easily disproved by scientific discovery.
    — Elizabeth Bruenig, The Atlantic, 26 Mar. 2026
  • Ronald Reagan did not suffer from such misapprehensions.
    — Gordon G. Chang, MSNBC Newsweek, 11 Dec. 2025
Definition of misapprehensions
Noun
  • Rounding out the top five names were seven write-in votes for the Sacramento Capitals or Capitols — which could be nicknamed the Caps to avoid quarrels over the spelling — and six votes for the Sacramento Stingers or Sting, referencing the collegiate Sacramento State Hornets.
    — Camila Pedrosa, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2026
  • In a 2024 study, researchers found that chimpanzee mothers tended to step in to defend their children in quarrels—say, over food or space in a tree—in about half of cases the researchers observed in the wild.
    — Jackie Flynn Mogensen, Scientific American, 10 May 2026
Definition of quarrels
Noun
  • Multiple officials say that players are advised, outside of training sessions, to remain in the hotel complexes at all times to avoid any risk of altercations or safety risks in public.
    — Adam Crafton, New York Times, 4 July 2026
  • Two people were stabbed during separate altercations and multiple arrests were made.
    — Tim Fang, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Definition of altercations
Noun
  • Before the latest scandal dropped, a New York Times/Siena poll released June 29 showed the multiple controversies were beginning to erode Platner's base.
    — Phillip M. Bailey, USA Today, 9 July 2026
  • Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin took over the department in March with the aim of keeping it away from the controversies that had marked the tenure of his predecessor, Kristi Noem.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 8 July 2026
Definition of controversies

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Cite this Entry

“Misunderstandings.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misunderstandings. Accessed 12 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of misunderstandings for Spanish Speakers

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