mis·un·der·stood

(mĭs′ŭn-dər-sto͝od′)

Past tense and past participle of misunderstand.

adj.

1. Incorrectly understood or interpreted.

2. Not appreciated or given sympathetic understanding: a sorely misunderstood child.

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.

misunderstood

(ˌmɪsʌndəˈstʊd)

adj

not properly or sympathetically understood: a misunderstood work of art; a misunderstood adolescent.

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

mis•un•der•stood

(ˌmɪs ʌn dərˈstʊd)

adj.

1. incorrectly understood or interpreted.

2. unappreciated; misjudged.

[1585–95]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.

misunderstood - wrongly understood; "a misunderstood criticism"; "a misunderstood question"

ununderstood - not understood; "should not tamely submit to the unpredictable and ununderstood cycles of wars"- Psychiatry

misunderstood

adjective misjudged, misinterpreted, misread, misconstrued, unrecognized, misheard, unappreciated He's very badly misunderstood.

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

Translations

incompris

misunderstood

[ˌmɪsʌndəˈstʊd]

A. PT, PP of misunderstand

B. ADJ → incomprendido

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

misunderstood

[ˌmɪsʌndə^rˈstʊd]

pp of misunderstand

adj [person] → incompris(e)
a misunderstood genius → un génie incompris

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

misunderstood

ptp of misunderstand

adj → unverstanden; artist, playwright → verkannt

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

misunderstood

[ˌmɪsʌndəˈstʊd]

1. pt, pp of misunderstand

2. adj → incompreso/a

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

WE all know what it is to feel hurt and angry, to feel that we are misunderstood, that no one loves us.

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He evidently quite misunderstood, and apparently intentionally misunderstood, the conditions upon which the land had been given to him.

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The important thing was that their life would begin again with an every-day act--with something that could not be misunderstood, that, thank God, had no moral meaning, no perplexity-- and yet was symbolic of their uninterrupted communion in the past--in all the future.

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It is in reality for my own sake, that, while I am discovering the rocks on which innocence and goodness often split, I may not be misunderstood to recommend the very means to my worthy readers, by which I intend to show them they will be undone.

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With a great flow of words he complained of being totally misunderstood. Even as he talked with a perception of his own audacity he thought that the word "misunderstood" was better than the word "mistrusted," and he repeated it again with insistence.

"I was about to say a 'misunderstood person,' when you interrupted me," insinuated quietly Councillor Mikulin.

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I have entirely misunderstood Lady Susan, and was on the point of leaving the house under a false impression of her conduct.

We misunderstood each other: he believed me more to blame than I really was; I considered his interference less excusable than I now find it.

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But, indeed, to be misunderstood is the shy man's fate on every occasion; and whatever impression he endeavors to create, he is sure to convey its opposite.

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Thus, the pair of lovers could be jarred apart by misunderstood motives, by accident of fate, by jealous rivals, by irate parents, by crafty guardians, by scheming relatives, and so forth and so forth; they could be reunited by a brave deed of the man lover, by a similar deed of the woman lover, by change of heart in one lover or the other, by forced confession of crafty guardian, scheming relative, or jealous rival, by voluntary confession of same, by discovery of some unguessed secret, by lover storming girl's heart, by lover making long and noble self-sacrifice, and so on, endlessly.

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My motives may be misinterpreted; my position may be misunderstood. Ignorant people may take me for that other happier man, who is an object of interest to you--"

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Speak what you think now in hard words and to-morrow speak what to-morrow thinks in hard words again, though it contradict every thing you said to-day.--'Ah, so you shall be sure to be misunderstood.'--Is it so bad then to be misunderstood?

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