misorientate

M3I1S1O1R1I1E1N1T1A1T1E1

verb

To position (something) incorrectly, especially so that it faces in the wrong direction.

Scrabble 14

Meanings

verbmisorientate (third-person singular simple present misorientates, present participle misorientating, simple past and past participle misorientated)

present singular third person misorientates · participle present misorientating · participle past misorientated · past misorientated

  1. transitiveTo position (something) incorrectly, especially so that it faces in the wrong direction.

    Sometimes I would misorientate slides 90 degrees or 180 degrees.

    1974, Keith Copeland, Aids for the Severely Handicapped, page 99
    2 more examples

    You might misorientate the connector, i.e. connect it the wrong way round.

    2004, Jenny Lawson, A+ Certificate in Computer Maintenance and Installation Level 2, page 135

    Since only one dislocation is required to misorientate one crystallite from another, the structure is a network of the type shown in Figure 5.44a and b

    2013, R. E. Smallman, Modern Physical Metallurgy, page 253
  2. intransitiveTo become incorrectly positioned, especially to face in the wrong direction.

    Thus the sub-grains gradually misorientate until they become recognizable separate entities, i.e. small recrystallized grains.

    1976, R. G. J. Strens, E. G. Strens, The Physics and Chemistry of Minerals and Rocks, page 81
    3 more examples

    The price system does not signal the changes continually taking place in the value and market relations; it necessarily misorientates in matters of economic decisions.

    1973, Béla Csikós Nagy, Socialist Economic Policy, page 44

    Thus records at British observatories as far west as Stokholm, Bardsey and Calf of Man will involve mainly individuals which have misorientated, or undertaken random dispersal prior to migration.

    1981, Nick Riddiford, Peter Findley, Seasonal Movements of Summer Migrants, page 82

    The standard procedure for demonstrating the pigeons' sun-compass consists in 're-setting' their internal clock and finding out whether they then misorientate in the expected direction.

    1993, Thomas Alerstam, Bird Migration, page 360
  3. reflexiveTo become confused about one's position relative to one's environment; to become disoriented.

    It is poetic justice of sorts that the church whose foreign agents and those indigenous members who chose to misorientate themselves has also given us these […]

    2003, C. Krydz Ikwuemesi, The Triumph of a Vision, page 198

Synonyms & antonyms

Origin

Cite this entry
APA

misorientate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misorientate

MLA

“misorientate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misorientate. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “misorientate,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/misorientate.

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