MISINTERPRET

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IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does misinterpret mean? 

• MISINTERPRET (verb)
  The verb MISINTERPRET has 3 senses:

1. interpret falsely

2. interpret wrongly

3. interpret in the wrong way

  Familiarity information: MISINTERPRET used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MISINTERPRET (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they misinterpret    ... he / she / it misinterprets   
Past simple: misinterpreted   
Past participle: misinterpreted   
-ing form: misinterpreting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Interpret falsely

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Hypernyms (to "misinterpret" is one way to...):

interpret; rede (give an interpretation or explanation to)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Interpret wrongly

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

misinterpret; misread

Context example:

I misread Hamlet all my life!

Hypernyms (to "misinterpret" is one way to...):

read; take (interpret something in a certain way; convey a particular meaning or impression)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

They won't misinterpret the story
Sam and Sue misinterpret the movie

Derivation:

misinterpretation (putting the wrong interpretation on)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Interpret in the wrong way

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

be amiss; misapprehend; misconceive; misconstrue; misinterpret; misunderstand

Context example:

She misconstrued my remarks

Hypernyms (to "misinterpret" is one way to...):

construe; interpret; see (make sense of; assign a meaning to)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence examples:

They won't misinterpret the story
Sam and Sue misinterpret the movie

Derivation:

misinterpretation (putting the wrong interpretation on)

 Context examples 

Be extra careful what you say to someone who means a lot to you, for with the wild aspects at play— Mercury retrograde in Scorpio—people might misinterpret what you say.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

If she had so misinterpreted his feelings, she had little right to wonder that he, with self-interest to blind him, should have mistaken hers.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

There is something brave in your spirit, as well as penetrating in your eye; but allow me to assure you that you partially misinterpret my emotions.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

An unkind critic might easily have misinterpreted that dim surface.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She meant to be giving her little heart a happy flutter, and filling her with sensations of delightful self-consequence; and, misinterpreting Fanny's blushes, still thought she must be doing so when she went to her after the two first dances, and said, with a significant look, Perhaps you can tell me why my brother goes to town to-morrow?

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

He had misinterpreted the feelings which had kept her face averted, and her tongue motionless.

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

"You utterly misinterpret my words," I said, at once seizing his hand: "I have no intention to grieve or pain you—indeed, I have not."

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)