Misread

//mɪsˈɹiːd// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    An instance of reading wrongly.

    "Line fluctuations can cause misreads and miswrites."

Verb
  1. 1
    To read wrongly; misconstrue; misinterpret; mistake the sense or significance of.

    "In the circumstances the Inspecting Officer concludes that the electric train motorman, despite his assertions to the contrary, misread the up main relief inner home signal for his own and ran past the up main through inner home signal at danger; he must therefore be held responsible for the accident."

  2. 2
    interpret wrongly wordnet
  3. 3
    read or interpret wrongly wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
catachresticcontortdistortdistorteddo amisseisegetical

Example

More examples

"When Layla saw Sami and Salima together, she misread the situation."

Etymology

From Middle English misreden, from Old English misrǣdan (“to advise wrongly; read wrongly”), equivalent to mis- + read. Cognate with Saterland Frisian misräide (“to go wrong, fail”), Dutch misraden (“to guess wrongly”), German missraten (“to fail; go wrong; become wayward”). For the noun, compare Old English misrǣd (“misguidance; misconduct”).

More for "misread"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

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