misunderstanding
noun
Simple meaning
A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
mihsuhnderstandingSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
mɪsəndɚsˈtændɪŋ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view; erroneous interpretation or comprehension; misconception.
A disagreement; difference of opinion; dissension; quarrel.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C1 · Advanced
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: A mistake as to the meaning of something or a specific point of view; erroneous interpretation or comprehension; misconception.
Used this way, misunderstanding is a reasonably familiar word with a faintly unfavourable edge. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Slightly negative
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Critical or judgemental
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
Interpret in the wrong way.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: mistake as to the meaning of something
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Words can change meaning depending on context.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.