mis·con·strue

(mĭs′kən-stro͞o′)

tr.v. mis·con·strued, mis·con·stru·ing, mis·con·strues

To mistake the meaning of; misinterpret.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

misconstrue

(ˌmɪskənˈstruː)

vb, -strues, -struing or -strued

(tr) to interpret mistakenly

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

mis•con•strue

(ˌmɪs kənˈstru; esp. Brit. mɪsˈkɒn stru)

v.t. -strued, -stru•ing.

to misunderstand the meaning of.

[1350–1400]

misconstrue

Past participle: misconstrued
Gerund: misconstruing

Imperative
misconstrue
misconstrue

Present
I misconstrue
you misconstrue
he/she/it misconstrues
we misconstrue
you misconstrue
they misconstrue

Preterite
I misconstrued
you misconstrued
he/she/it misconstrued
we misconstrued
you misconstrued
they misconstrued

Present Continuous
I am misconstruing
you are misconstruing
he/she/it is misconstruing
we are misconstruing
you are misconstruing
they are misconstruing

Present Perfect
I have misconstrued
you have misconstrued
he/she/it has misconstrued
we have misconstrued
you have misconstrued
they have misconstrued

Past Continuous
I was misconstruing
you were misconstruing
he/she/it was misconstruing
we were misconstruing
you were misconstruing
they were misconstruing

Past Perfect
I had misconstrued
you had misconstrued
he/she/it had misconstrued
we had misconstrued
you had misconstrued
they had misconstrued

Future
I will misconstrue
you will misconstrue
he/she/it will misconstrue
we will misconstrue
you will misconstrue
they will misconstrue

Future Perfect
I will have misconstrued
you will have misconstrued
he/she/it will have misconstrued
we will have misconstrued
you will have misconstrued
they will have misconstrued

Future Continuous
I will be misconstruing
you will be misconstruing
he/she/it will be misconstruing
we will be misconstruing
you will be misconstruing
they will be misconstruing

Present Perfect Continuous
I have been misconstruing
you have been misconstruing
he/she/it has been misconstruing
we have been misconstruing
you have been misconstruing
they have been misconstruing

Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been misconstruing
you will have been misconstruing
he/she/it will have been misconstruing
we will have been misconstruing
you will have been misconstruing
they will have been misconstruing

Past Perfect Continuous
I had been misconstruing
you had been misconstruing
he/she/it had been misconstruing
we had been misconstruing
you had been misconstruing
they had been misconstruing

Conditional
I would misconstrue
you would misconstrue
he/she/it would misconstrue
we would misconstrue
you would misconstrue
they would misconstrue

Past Conditional
I would have misconstrued
you would have misconstrued
he/she/it would have misconstrued
we would have misconstrued
you would have misconstrued
they would have misconstrued

Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Verb

misconstrue - interpret in the wrong way; "Don't misinterpret my comments as criticism"; "She misconstrued my remarks"

be amiss, misapprehend, misconceive, misunderstand, misinterpret

construe, interpret, see - make sense of; assign a meaning to; "What message do you see in this letter?"; "How do you interpret his behavior?"

misconstrue

verb misinterpret, misunderstand, misjudge, misread, mistake, misapprehend, get a false impression of, misconceive, mistranslate, get your lines crossed about, make a wrong interpretation of An outsider might misconstrue the nature of the relationship.

Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002

misconstrue

verb

To understand incorrectly:

misapprehend, misconceive, misinterpret, misread, mistake, misunderstand.

Translations

يُفَسِّر تَفْسيراً خاطِئا

nepochopitšpatně si vyložit

misforstå

missverstehen

félremagyaráz

fraintendere malinteso

neteisingai aiškintineteisingai suprasti

parprast, nepareizi iztulkot

misforstå

nesprávne interpretovať

yanlış anlamak

误解

misconstrue

[ˌmɪskənˈstruː] VT → interpretar mal, malinterpretar

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

misconstrue

[ˌmɪskənˈstruː] vt → mal interpréter

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

misconstrue

vt → missverstehen, missdeuten, falsch auslegen; you have misconstrued my meaning → Sie haben mich falsch verstanden; to misconstrue something as something → etw irrtümlicherweise für etw halten

Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

misconstrue

[ˌmɪskənˈstruː] vt → interpretare male

misconstrue

(ˌmiskənˈstruː) verb

(formal) to misunderstand; to interpret wrongly. That's not what she meant, her statement was misconstrued.

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

If it be asked what is to be the consequence, in case the Congress shall misconstrue this part of the Constitution, and exercise powers not warranted by its true meaning, I answer, the same as if they should misconstrue or enlarge any other power vested in them; as if the general power had been reduced to particulars, and any one of these were to be violated; the same, in short, as if the State legislatures should violate the irrespective constitutional authorities.

View in context

Still, when I reached my chamber, I felt a pang at the idea she should even temporarily misconstrue what she had seen.

View in context

She leant back while the more earnest members of the club began to misconstrue her.

View in context

Let that poor hand of hers lie gently on your hearts; for there may be something in its healing touch akin to that of the Great Master whose precepts you misconstrue, whose lessons you pervert, of whose charity and sympathy with all the world, not one among you in his daily practice knows as much as many of the worst among those fallen sinners, to whom you are liberal in nothing but the preachment of perdition!

View in context

I used to fly into passions or melt into tears at first, but seeing that his delight increased in proportion to my anger and agitation, I have since endeavoured to suppress my feelings and receive his revelations in the silence of calm contempt; but still he reads the inward struggle in my face, and misconstrues my bitterness of soul for his unworthiness into the pangs of wounded jealousy; and when he has sufficiently diverted himself with that, or fears my displeasure will become too serious for his comfort, he tries to kiss and soothe me into smiles again - never were his caresses so little welcome as then!

View in context

Nominated MP Maina Kamanda has said Kenyans should not misconstrue his recent encounter with Deputy President William Ruto as a change of heart.

Why I greeted Ruto - Kamanda

He said India shouldn't misconstrue Pakistan's desire for peace as its weakness as it had all capabilities to respond to any misadventure by India befittingly.

NA speaker to form panel on Kashmir annexation issue

He called upon India not to misconstrue Pakistan's peace gestures as its weakness.

No need for Pakistani artistes to perform in India: Chohan

In this, her first short story collection, she takes that skill and applies it to the worlds of middle-class men and women, who she tips into awkward scenarios - against a difficult political backdrop - where they incessantly miscalculate and misconstrue those around them.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

short story collection, she takes that skill and applies it to the worlds of middle class men and women, who she tips into awkward scenarios - against a difficult political backdrop - where they incessantly miscalculate and misconstrue those around them.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

In this, her first short story collection, she takes that skill and applies it to the worlds of middle class men and women, who she tips into awkward scenarios - against a difficult political backdrop - where they incessantly miscalculate and misconstrue those around them.

BOOK OF THE WEEK

Eldred: While we are guilty of saying Glocks lack sex appeal, don't misconstrue our comments about their "boring" reliability and functionality to be anything but praise.

Indigant Glock fan