misemphasize

present singular third person misemphasizes · participle present misemphasizing · participle past misemphasized · past misemphasized

1. To emphasize incorrectly or inappropriately.

   Instructions must accurately state the law, and must not mislead the jury or misemphasize some element.

   1997, Dan B. Dobbs, Paul T. Hayden, Torts and Compensation, page 14

   2 more examples

   But the widespread interest in intercollegiate debating and proper gratitude for what it has done to stimulate a study of the different forms of public discourse have led undergraduates, graduates, and even teachers, I think, greatly to misemphasize its importance in the field of study under discussion this morning — public discourse.

   1898, Proceedings of The Middle States Association of Colleges and Secondary Schools Annual Convention, page 105

   Recent reformers like St. Dominic and St. Francis, he suggests, misemphasize certain aspects of the Christian religion: they emphasize the poverty and self-abnegation of Christ's life and preach the deferring of punishment for the wicked

   2020, John P. McCormick, Reading Machiavelli, page 41