misdemean

M3I1S1D2E1M3E1A1N1

verb

With a reflexive pronoun: to cause (oneself) to behave badly.

“he misdemeaned himself”

Similar
misbehavemisconduct
Scrabble 14
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Meanings

verbmisdemean (third-person singular simple present misdemeans, present participle misdemeaning, simple past and past participle misdemeaned)

present singular third person misdemeans · participle present misdemeaning · participle past misdemeaned · past misdemeaned

  1. archaicreflexiveWith a reflexive pronoun: to cause (oneself) to behave badly.

    he misdemeaned himself

    1 more example

    [Y]ou that beſt ſhould teach vs, / Haue miſdemean'd your ſelfe, and not a little: / Tovvard the King firſt, then his Lavves, in filling / The vvhole Realme, by your teaching & your Chaplaines / (for ſo vve are inform'd) vvith nevv opinions, / Diuers and dangerous; vvhich are Hereſies; / And not reform'd, may proue pernicious.

    1613 (date written), William Shakespeare, [John Fletcher], “The Famous History of the Life of King Henry the Eight”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act V, scene iii], page 220, column 1
  2. intransitiveTo misbehave.

Synonyms & antonyms

verbbehave badly

Similar
misbehavemisconduct
Broader
actmove
Also see
misbehavemisconduct

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From mis- + demean.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

misdemean. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdemean

MLA

“misdemean.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdemean. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misdemean,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misdemean.

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