misunderstand
/'misʌndə'stænd/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To understand incorrectly: To fail to grasp the correct meaning, intention, or nature of something said, written, or done.
- To interpret wrongly: To form an incorrect interpretation or conclusion about someone's words or actions.
Usage and Examples
- Verb:
- I'm afraid you misunderstand me; I was trying to help, not criticize.
- It's easy to misunderstand the instructions if you don't read them carefully.
- They completely misunderstood the purpose of the meeting.
Advanced Usage and Nuances
"To be misunderstood": This passive form is often used to describe a person, feeling, or concept that is not correctly understood by others.
- He felt lonely and misunderstood by his peers.
- The artist's work was often misunderstood during her lifetime.
"A misunderstanding" (noun): Refers to a situation or instance of failing to understand something correctly. This is the most common noun form derived from the verb.
- We had a slight misunderstanding about the meeting time.
Variants and Related Words
Misunderstanding (n): A failure to understand something correctly; a disagreement or quarrel arising from such a failure.
- The argument was based on a simple misunderstanding.
Misunderstood (adj): Describes something that has been interpreted incorrectly, or a person whose character or intentions are not fully or correctly appreciated by others.
- She gave a misunderstood sigh. (Her sigh was interpreted incorrectly.)
- He is a misunderstood genius.
Synonyms
- Misinterpret: To explain or understand the meaning of something wrongly.
- Misconstrue: To interpret (a person's words or actions) wrongly.
- Misread: To read or interpret (a situation, text, or person) incorrectly.
- Get (something) wrong: (Informal) To fail to understand something correctly.
Antonyms
- Understand: To perceive the intended meaning of.
- Comprehend: To grasp mentally; understand.
- Interpret correctly: To explain or understand the meaning of something accurately.
Common Collocations and Phrases
- To completely/totally misunderstand: To get something entirely wrong.
- You have completely misunderstood my intentions.
- A case of misunderstanding: Used to describe a situation caused by incorrect understanding.
- It was all just a case of misunderstanding.
- To clear up a misunderstanding: To resolve a situation caused by incorrect understanding.
- We need to talk to clear up this misunderstanding.
Verb
- interpret in the wrong way
- Don't misinterpret my comments as criticism
- She misconstrued my remarks