verb ·2 syllables ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb

1. 1
   To fail to pronounce, utter, or speak correctly. US, ambitransitive

   "Either I misspoke or you misheard."

2. 2
   pronounce a word incorrectly wordnet
3. 3
   To speak insultingly or disrespectfully. intransitive, obsolete

Synonyms

All synonyms

blunderbotchbunglemispronouncemispronouncemistalk

Example

More examples

"Either I misspoke or you misheard."

Etymology

From Middle English misspeken, mispeken, mysspeken, from Old English *misspecan, missprecan (“to murmur”), equivalent to mis- + speak.

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