MISTAKE (mistaken, mistook)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected forms: mistaken    , mistook   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mistake mean? 

• MISTAKE (noun)
  The noun MISTAKE has 3 senses:

1. a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention

2. an understanding of something that is not correct

3. part of a statement that is not correct

  Familiarity information: MISTAKE used as a noun is uncommon.

• MISTAKE (verb)
  The verb MISTAKE has 2 senses:

1. identify incorrectly

2. to make a mistake or be incorrect

  Familiarity information: MISTAKE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MISTAKE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

error; fault; mistake

Context example:

I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults

Hypernyms ("mistake" is a kind of...):

nonaccomplishment; nonachievement (an act that does not achieve its intended goal)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mistake"):

confusion; mix-up (a mistake that results from taking one thing to be another)

renege; revoke (the mistake of not following suit when able to do so)

betise; folly; foolishness; imbecility; stupidity (a stupid mistake)

balls-up; ballup; cockup; mess-up (something badly botched or muddled)

bloomer; blooper; blunder; boner; boo-boo; botch; bungle; flub; foul-up; fuckup; pratfall (an embarrassing mistake)

omission; skip (a mistake resulting from neglect)

lapse; oversight (a mistake resulting from inattention)

offside ((sport) the mistake of occupying an illegal position on the playing field (in football, soccer, ice hockey, field hockey, etc.))

miscue; parapraxis; slip; slip-up (a minor inadvertent mistake usually observed in speech or writing or in small accidents or memory lapses etc.)

distortion (the mistake of misrepresenting the facts)

miscalculation; misestimation; misreckoning (a mistake in calculating)

incursion (the mistake of incurring liability or blame)

blot; smear; smirch; spot; stain (an act that brings discredit to the person who does it)

Derivation:

mistake (to make a mistake or be incorrect)

Sense 2

Meaning:

An understanding of something that is not correct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

misapprehension; mistake; misunderstanding

Context example:

there must be some misunderstanding--I don't have a sister

Hypernyms ("mistake" is a kind of...):

misconception (an incorrect conception)

Derivation:

mistake (to make a mistake or be incorrect)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Part of a statement that is not correct

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Synonyms:

error; mistake

Context example:

the book was full of errors

Hypernyms ("mistake" is a kind of...):

misstatement (a statement that contains a mistake)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "mistake"):

corrigendum (a printer's error; to be corrected)

erratum; literal; literal error; misprint; typo; typographical error (a mistake in printed matter resulting from mechanical failures of some kind)

Derivation:

mistake (to make a mistake or be incorrect)

• MISTAKE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mistake    ... he / she / it mistakes   
Past simple: mistook   
Past participle: mistaken   
-ing form: mistaking   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Identify incorrectly

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

misidentify; mistake

Context example:

Don't mistake her for her twin sister

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

identify (consider to be equal or the same)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "mistake"):

confound; confuse (mistake one thing for another)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

mistaking (putting the wrong interpretation on)

Sense 2

Meaning:

To make a mistake or be incorrect

Classified under:

Verbs of thinking, judging, analyzing, doubting

Synonyms:

err; mistake; slip

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "mistake"):

misremember (remember incorrectly)

slip up; stumble; trip up (make an error)

misjudge (judge incorrectly)

fall for (be deceived, duped, or entrapped by)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s

Derivation:

mistake (a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention)

mistake (an understanding of something that is not correct)

mistake (part of a statement that is not correct)

 Context examples 

We had imagined that our pursuers, the ape-men, knew nothing of our brush-wood hiding-place, but we were soon to find out our mistake.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I know this is true, for I am one of them myself, and cannot be mistaken.

(The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, by L. Frank Baum)

There Jo was mistaken, for next day she made a discovery which produced a tempest.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

It is a large sum—don't you think there is a mistake?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

The recently discovered planetary mass was originally found in 2016 but was mistaken for a brown dwarf planet.

(Astronomers Discover New Planet Not Orbiting Any Star, VOA)

The lion continued: “You are mistaken, they are twelve girls.”

(Fairy Tales, by The Brothers Grimm)

Too late One Ear learned his mistake.

(White Fang, by Jack London)

The sixth house also rules health, so if you are having medical tests done and one seems off, it could be that the lab made a mistake.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)

We don't want to repeat the same mistakes.

(Health threats caused by mobile phone radiation, EUROPARL TV)

And you, Miss Morland—my stupid sister has mistaken all your clearest expressions.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)