Meaning of misunderstand in English

misunderstand

/ˌmɪs.ʌn.dəˈstænd/ us

/ˌmɪs.ʌn.dɚˈstænd/

misunderstood | misunderstood

to think you have understood someone or something when you have not:

If you think that these transport problems can be solved by building more roads, you completely misunderstand the nature of the problem.

I told him I'd meet him here, but perhaps he misunderstood and went straight to the restaurant.

be misunderstood

If someone is misunderstood, other people do not understand that they have good qualities:

In her teens she felt frustrated and misunderstood.

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Misunderstanding

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(Definition of misunderstand from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)

misunderstand | American Dictionary

misunderstand

verb [ I/T ]

/mɪsˌʌn·dərˈstænd/

past tense and past participle misunderstood us/mɪsˌʌn·dərˈstʊd/

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to fail to understand something or someone:

[ T ] I think she misunderstood what I meant.

(Definition of misunderstand from the Cambridge Academic Content Dictionary © Cambridge University Press)

Examples of misunderstand

misunderstand

As a result, linguists have been misunderstood in public debate, so that the level of public debate about language remains low.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

He was misunderstood by all sides for this stand.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Parkes somewhat disingenuously dismisses much of this debate, claiming that concepts such as ' phases of grief ' have been misunderstood and misinterpreted as rigid and fixed.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In a design team, most conflicts occur due to misunderstanding of one's assessment of specifications and contexts.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

There is virtually unlimited opportunity for misunderstanding through failed communication, so substantial effort is required to ensure effective communication.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In my opinion, such words may be misunderstood if we are not familiar with their usages.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In the end he is misunderstood by the media and misjudged by the reading public.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Many other potential sources of misunderstanding occur throughout the book, though perhaps none is as serious as the one just mentioned.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Even in cooperative settings without misunderstanding, alignment may be used strategically - language is used in the pursuit of individual goals.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Many commentators misunderstood our claims about internal representations and the role of the brain in consciousness.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Can one formulate the results in this field without risking being misunderstood?

From the Cambridge English Corpus

Here, however, the failure to recognize the larger theme has led to some misunderstanding about what may have happened.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

The above principles are not causal principles in this sense, of course, and few linguists have misunderstood them as such.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

First, his statements suggest that he misunderstands the nature of the relationships established among languages by the comparative method.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

In practice, these cases are similar to cases in which the system has misunderstood the user.

From the Cambridge English Corpus

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These examples are from corpora and from sources on the web. Any opinions in the examples do not represent the opinion of the Cambridge Dictionary editors or of Cambridge University Press or its licensors.

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What is the pronunciation of misunderstood?