Mispraise
verb ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 To praise falsely, injudiciously, or without good reason. rare, transitive
"[T]hough I spend my nights, and dayes, and thoughts, and spirits, and words, and preaching, and writing, upon Princes, and Judges, and Magistrates . . . I have not paid a farthing of my debt to God; I have not praised him, but I have praised them, till not only my selfe, but even they, whom I have so mispraised, are the worse in the sight of God, for my over-praising."
- 2 To slander, blame, or disparage. archaic, transitive
"On hearing the Duke of Wellington mispraised he defends him, in a sonnet."
Example
More examples"[T]hough I spend my nights, and dayes, and thoughts, and spirits, and words, and preaching, and writing, upon Princes, and Judges, and Magistrates . . . I have not paid a farthing of my debt to God; I have not praised him, but I have praised them, till not only my selfe, but even they, whom I have so mispraised, are the worse in the sight of God, for my over-praising."
Etymology
From mis- + praise. Compare to French mépriser.
More for "mispraise"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.