misattribute

M3I1S1A1T1T1R1I1B3U1T1E1

verb

To erroneously attribute; to falsely ascribe; used especially of authorship.

Similar
misascribe
OriginEnglish attribute ← Middle English mys- ← Old English mis- →
Scrabble 16
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Meanings

verbmisattribute (third-person singular simple present misattributes, present participle misattributing, simple past and past participle misattributed)

present singular third person misattributes · participle present misattributing · participle past misattributed · past misattributed

  1. To erroneously attribute; to falsely ascribe; used especially of authorship.

    “It looks like this is either an A.I. hallucination or a misattributed quote,” Ms. [Meredith] Broussard said.

    2026 May 19, Benjamin Mullin, quoting Meredith Broussard, “Book on Truth in the Age of A.I. Contains Quotes Made Up by A.I.”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: misascribe

Synonyms & antonyms

verbTo erroneously attribute; to falsely ascribe; used especially of authorship.

Similar
misascribe
Also see
misascribe

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
  3. Proto-Germanic*missaz
  4. Proto-Germanic*missa-
  5. Proto-West Germanic*missa-
  6. Old Englishmis-
  7. Middle Englishmys-
  8. Englishmis-
  9. Englishattribute
  10. Englishmisattribute

From mis- + attribute.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

misattribute. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misattribute

MLA

“misattribute.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misattribute. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misattribute,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misattribute.

Source: misattribute on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.