misnomer

plural misnomers

1. lawA mistake in the naming of a person or place; a misidentification.
2. broadlyAn incorrect use of a term, especially one which is misleading; a misname.

   […] plaintiff's misstyling himself as corporation in initial complaint constituted case of misnomer.

   1994, Illinois. Appellate Court, Stephen Davis Porter, Illinois Appellate reports, page 257

   1 more example

   Rewilding[…]is also a misnomer, for whether by getting rid of tens of thousands of sheep in Patagonia or introducing a living species as a surrogate for an extinct one – Sayaguesa cattle in place of aurochs in Croatia’s Velebit Mountains, for instance – rewilding requires more human intervention than its name suggests.

   2020 February 25, Christopher de Bellaigue, “The end of farming?”, in The Guardian, archived from the original on 06 Jan 2026

3. broadlyA term which is misleading, even if firmly established, technically correct, or both.

   The name Chinese checkers is a misnomer since the game has nothing to do with China.

   1 more example

   The word blackboard as applied to green or brown chalkboards is a misnomer but is not incorrect, as the broad sense of the word is idiomatic.

   Antonyms: aptronym

4. broadlynonstandardproscribedSomething which is asserted not to be true; a mistaken belief, a falsehood, a myth.

   It’s a misnomer that all doctors have bad handwriting.

present singular third person misnomers · participle present misnomering · participle past misnomered · past misnomered

1. transitiveTo use an incorrect, and especially misleading, name for (someone or something); to misidentify, to misname.

   Synonyms: misnome