Definitions

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

  • transitive verb To identify incorrectly.

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

  • verb To mistake the identity.

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

  • verb identify incorrectly

Etymologies

Sorry, no etymologies found.

Support

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

Examples

  • The media doesn't "misidentify" pit bulls, although occasionally it gets facts wrong, because sometimes things aren't completely clear.

    The Clog 2010

  • As an avid pro-choice supporter, I want to be on the “right” side, so I should get in line with formerstate Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton, who puts forth that “Nosy neighbors with some effort could identify or, even worse, misidentify these women who answer these questions.”

    Oklahoma to collect abortion information « Biodork 2009

  • Not one person outside of Congress has shown this to be anything else than a financial train wreck ... but Libs think we can pay for things with "Social Merits" and imaginary cost savings ... leave it to the Left to misidentify a problem thereby ensuring the wrong solution ... vwrtb

    Reid to Senate: Get ready to work overtime on health care 2009

  • People misidentify wildlife all the time, even when you think there is no way a certain creature can be mistaken for something else.

    How many people out there think or know there are mountain lions in your state? Please remember to list your state. 2009

  • Leftists misidentify such people as "success stories," when, in fact, they are simply people who have not yet been killed in a race riot or in some other racially motivated crime.

    What a Bunch of Apes! « L.E. Modesitt, Jr. – The Official Website 2009

  • But further visual examination led the engineers to misidentify it as silver or cadmium plating which, according to the maintenance task card guiding maintenance staff, was "unimportant" and did not require the gearbox to be removed from service or to be put on "close monitoring".

    North Sea helicopter crash report says gearbox failed after maintenance error 2011

  • A few months ago, I signed onto a statement by a group of testing experts, which cautioned that such strategies were likely to misidentify which teachers were effective and which were ineffective, to promote teaching narrowly to the test, and to cause a narrowing of the curriculum.

    Ravitch: The pitfalls of putting economists in charge of education Valerie Strauss 2011

  • As an avid pro-choice supporter, I want to be on the “right” side, so I should get in line with formerstate Rep. Wanda Jo Stapleton, who puts forth that “Nosy neighbors with some effort could identify or, even worse, misidentify these women who answer these questions.”

    2009 December « Biodork 2009

  • Indeed, as is demonstrated below, Caplan has been known to wrap his own preferences up and misidentify them as being "rational" while asserting that those he disagrees with have "irrational" preferences.

    Doubt the Vote, Bryan Caplan | EconLog | Library of Economics and Liberty 2009

  • Did the Israelis misidentify a school run by the UN Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), where 43 Palestinians seeking shelter were killed in an early morning air strike?

    Matthew Yglesias » Self-Defense 2009

Comments

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