misapprehend

present singular third person misapprehends · participle present misapprehending · participle past misapprehended · past misapprehended

1. transitiveTo interpret incorrectly; to misunderstand.

   They misapprehended the intentions and capabilities of our enemies, miscalculated the strength of communism, and misjudged the threat of terrorism.

   2007, Tim Weiner, Legacy of Ashes, Penguin, published 2008, page xv

   1 more example

   I define white as a social category, not a racial category. Of course, it carries unmistakable racial meanings, but as I have argued in this book, to see it as racial and nothing more is to misapprehend it.

   2006, Matt Wray, Not Quite White, page 139