misperceive

M3I1S1P3E1R1C3E1I1V4E1

verb

To perceive erroneously.

OriginEnglish perceive ← Middle English mys- ← Old English mis- →
Scrabble 20
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Meanings

verbmisperceive (third-person singular simple present misperceives, present participle misperceiving, simple past and past participle misperceived)

present singular third person misperceives · participle present misperceiving · participle past misperceived · past misperceived

  1. To perceive erroneously.

    The second reason so many people initially misperceived George W.

    2009 January 25, James Mann, “At the White House, What’s Old May Be New”, in New York Times

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*mey-?
  2. Proto-Indo-European*meyth₂-
  3. Proto-Germanic*missaz
  4. Proto-Germanic*missa-
  5. Proto-West Germanic*missa-
  6. Old Englishmis-
  7. Middle Englishmys-
  8. Englishmis-
  9. Englishperceive
  10. Englishmisperceive

From mis- + perceive.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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