misunderstanding

mis·un·der·stand·ing
UK/ˌmɪsʌndəˈstændɪŋ/US/ˌmɪsʌndɚˈstændɪŋ/

noun

A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view; erroneous interpretation or comprehension; misconception.

“The worst distance between two people is misunderstanding. - Thoughtkick”

Less commonScrabble 21

Meanings

nounmisunderstanding (plural misunderstandings)

plural misunderstandings

  1. A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view; erroneous interpretation or comprehension; misconception.

    The worst distance between two people is misunderstanding. - Thoughtkick

    1 more example

    Because of misunderstandings among certain member states of the Organization of African Unity's voices have been occasionally raised recently against the convocation of the Assembly in Accra. Nonetheless, the regular Assembly of the Heads of State and Government was, in the first place, designed to find peaceful solutions, through deliberations and frank exchange of views to such misunderstandings among member-states.

    1965, Haile Selassie, African Liberation Day speech
  2. A disagreement; difference of opinion; dissension; quarrel.

    It was only months and months afterwards, when I made the attempt to recover what was left of the body, that I heard the original quarrel arose from a misunderstanding about some hens.

    1899 February, Joseph Conrad, “The Heart of Darkness”, in Blackwood’s Edinburgh Magazine, volume CLXV, number M, New York, N.Y.: The Leonard Scott Publishing Company, […], →OCLC, part I, page 198
verb
  1. gerundparticiplepresentpresent participle and gerund of misunderstand

Synonyms & antonyms

nounputting the wrong interpretation on

nounan understanding of something that is not correct

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Middle Englishmys undirstonding
  2. Englishmisunderstanding

From Middle English mys undirstonding, equivalent to misunderstand + -ing. Compare Dutch misverstand (“misunderstanding”), German Missverständnis (“misunderstanding”), Swedish missförstånd (“misunderstanding”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Afrikaans misverstand, misverstand
  • misverstandmistake
  • misverstanddisagreement
Arabic سُوء فَهْم
  • سُوء فَهْم (sūʔ fahm)mistake
Catalan malentès
  • malentèsmistake
Chinese Mandarin 誤會 /误会, 誤解 /误解
  • 誤會 /误会 (wùhuì)mistake
  • 誤解 /误解 (wùjiě)mistake
Czech nedorozumění
  • nedorozuměnímistake
Danish misforståelse
  • misforståelsemistake
Dutch misverstand
  • misverstandmistake
Esperanto miskompreno
  • miskomprenomistake
Estonian segadus
  • segadusmistake
Finnish väärinymmärrys, väärinkäsitys
  • väärinymmärrysmistake
  • väärinkäsitysmistake
  • sekaannusmistake
French malentendu, quiproquo
  • malentendumistake
  • quiproquomistake
German Missverständnis
  • Missverständnismistake
Greek παρεξήγηση
  • παρεξήγηση (parexígisi)mistake
Hebrew אי־הבנה
  • אי־הבנה (í-havaná)mistake
Hindi ग़लत फ़हमी
  • ग़लत फ़हमी (ġalat fahmī)mistake
Hungarian félreértés
  • félreértésmistake
Indonesian kesalahpahaman
  • kesalahpahamanmistake
Italian fraintendimento, qui pro quo
  • fraintendimentomistake
  • qui pro quomistake
  • quiproquòmistake
Japanese 誤解, 勘違い
  • 誤解 (gokai)mistake
  • 勘違い (kanchigai)mistake
Korean 오해, 착각
  • 오해 (ohae)mistake
  • 착각 (chakgak)mistake
Latin ambiguitas
  • ambiguitasmistake
Malay salah faham
  • salah fahammistake
Māori pōhēhētanga
  • pōhēhētangamistake
Polish nieporozumienie, nieporozumienie
  • nieporozumieniemistake
  • nieporozumieniedisagreement
Portuguese mal-entendido, confusão
  • mal-entendidomistake
  • confusãomistake
Russian недоразуме́ние, непра́вильное понима́ние
  • недоразуме́ние (nedorazuménije)mistake
  • непра́вильное понима́ние (neprávilʹnoje ponimánije)mistake
Scottish Gaelic mì-bhreithneachadh, mì-thuigsinn
  • mì-bhreithneachadhmistake
  • mì-thuigsinnmistake
Spanish malentendido
  • malentendidomistake
Swedish missförstånd
  • missförståndmistake
Turkish yanlış anlama
  • yanlış anlamamistake
Ukrainian непорозумі́ння, непорозумі́ння
  • непорозумі́ння (neporozumínnja)mistake
  • непорозумі́ння (neporozumínnja)disagreement
Urdu غلط فہمی
  • غلط فہمی (ġalat fahmī)mistake

Rhymes & wordplay

Rhymes with misunderstanding

All rhymes →
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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