verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To interpret erroneously, to understand incorrectly; to misunderstand. transitive

   "His words were misconstrued as an insult."

2. 2
   interpret in the wrong way wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

misapprehendmisconceivemisinterpretmisinterpretmisunderstandmisunderstand

Antonyms

All antonyms

comprehendconstrue

Example

More examples

"You've somehow managed to misconstrue what I have said."

Etymology

From Middle English misconstruen, equivalent to mis- + construe.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.