Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A mistaken thought, idea, or notion; a misunderstanding.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun Erroneous conception; false opinion; misunderstanding.
  • noun Synonyms Misunderstanding, misapprehension, mistake.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Erroneous conception; false opinion; wrong understanding.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun a mistaken belief, a wrong idea

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun an incorrect conception

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

misconceive + -tion

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word misconception.

Examples

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Surprised this wasn't listed by anyone before. I was using it as a vehicle for

    "What a strange misconception has been taught to people....that one cannot be disciplined enough to discover the truth unless one is indifferent to it....there is no point in looking for the truth unless what it is makes a difference."

    --in K. C. Cole, "The Scientific Aesthetic", Discover 4(12): 54, 63

    November 30, 2007

  • I disagree with Cole, because what makes no difference to one person might make a difference to another; truth isn't relative, but its application is. Indifference, meanwhile, is a beneficial quality in an arbiter (or "discoverer") of truth.

    November 30, 2007