Definitions

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

  • intransitive verb Archaic To hold a false or erroneous belief or opinion, especially in religious matters.
  • intransitive verb Archaic To believe falsely or erroneously in (a doctrine or opinion, for example).
  • intransitive verb To refuse to believe; disbelieve.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • To believe erroneously.

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

  • intransitive verb To believe erroneously, or in a false religion.

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

  • verb To believe erroneously.

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

  • verb hold a false or unorthodox belief

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From mis- +‎ believe

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Examples

  • A spiritual life endures even when I doubt, misbelieve, or refuse to believe.

    Jon M. Sweeney: Doubt Is The Faith That Binds Us Together Jon M. Sweeney 2011

  • Help and Victory for us and shame and defeat for those who misbelieve the faith of Abraham the Friend, on whom be peace! —

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • It is easy to misbelieve that the problem has been sorted, when along comes a paper saying that strontium affects the instrument too, but nobody had suspected it.

    The USHCN Basketball Team « Climate Audit 2007

  • Ahh, yes…I misbelieve the misinformation being mispoken in order to misconstrue the misbehavior of these mis..erable miscreants.

    Firedoglake » Word of the Day: “Misrecollected” 2006

  • Dear, dear sweetheart, I have been thinking & examining, & searching & analyzing, for many days, & am vexed to find that I more believe in the immortality of the soul than misbelieve in it.53

    Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005

  • Dear, dear sweetheart, I have been thinking & examining, & searching & analyzing, for many days, & am vexed to find that I more believe in the immortality of the soul than misbelieve in it.53

    Mark Twain Ron Powers 2005

  • But as for those who misbelieve—confound them! and He will make their works go wrong.

    The Early Middle Ages 500-1000 Robert Brentano 1964

  • Verily, God causes those who believe and do right to enter into gardens beneath which rivers flow; but those who misbelieve enjoy themselves and eat as the cattle eat; but the fire is the resort for them!

    The Early Middle Ages 500-1000 Robert Brentano 1964

  • That is because those who misbelieve follow falsehood, and those who believe follow the truth from their Lord.

    The Early Middle Ages 500-1000 Robert Brentano 1964

  • And when ye meet those who misbelieve—then striking off heads until ye have massacred them, and bind fast the bonds!

    The Early Middle Ages 500-1000 Robert Brentano 1964

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