misconceive

verb

mis·​con·​ceive ˌmis-kən-ˈsēv 

misconceived; misconceiving

1

transitive : to form a wrong idea of (something) : misunderstand

To think about poverty as mainly an underclass or minority issue is not only to misconceive it, but also to wall it off and make it alien.

—Mark Jonathan Harris

… I thought I had misconceived their true characters …

—Herman Melville

2

intransitive dated : to hold a wrong idea or conception

misconceiver noun

plural misconceivers

Synonyms

• miscalculate
• misdeem
• misestimate
• misgauge
• misjudge
• mismeasure
• mistake

Examples of misconceive in a Sentence

misconceived the scope of the nation's financial crisis

Word History

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

misconceive

verb

mis·​con·​ceive

ˌmis-kən-ˈsēv

: to form a wrong or mistaken idea of