misgeneralise

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A form of misgeneralize — To make an incorrect generalization.

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Meanings

verbmisgeneralise (third-person singular simple present misgeneralises, present participle misgeneralising, simple past and past participle misgeneralised)

present singular third person misgeneralises · participle present misgeneralising · participle past misgeneralised · past misgeneralised

  1. alternativeAlternative form of misgeneralize.

    Informal techniques, if properly written, can be quite readable and comprehensible; unfortunately, it is easy to leave unsaid details that must be specified, or to misgeneralise and produce inconsistencies.

    1989, Hendrik J. Boom, Claus Bendix Nielsen, Andrew D. McGettrick, Peter D. Mosses, Charles Rattray, Robert D. Tennent, David A. Watt, “A view of formal semantics”, in Computer standards & Interfaces, volume 9, number 1
    1 more example

    If presence of de in nominal dislocates is indeed evidence of previous split Case licensing, the child will be led to assume its presence in the target language and may possibly misgeneralise it to other cases.

    2006, Jaume Solà, Anna Gavarró, Subextraction in Romance interrogatives

Origin

From mis- + generalise.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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