Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

misfire

/ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.47 in modern English

Syllables: mis-fire
IPA: /ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/

12

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

An act of misfiring.

noun

verb

To fail to discharge properly.

verb

To fail to ignite in the proper sequence.

verb

To initiate an action potential without the proper stimulus.

verb

To fail to achieve the anticipated result.

Example Sentences

"The fact is, Mr Carrados, Gertrude is a misfire. It was the surprise of her life (if I said "disappointment" you'd think me catty) when Mark married me, and she didn't set out to be pleasant to the interloper."
"Amazon’s misfires with Alexa may have led Google astray, said a former manager who worked on Google Assistant."
"His practical joke misfired and he nearly burnt my left hand."

Etymology

Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).

Word Breakdown

Prefix: mis

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/

Inflected Forms

misfires (plural) misfires (present, singular) misfiring (participle, present) misfired (participle, past) misfired (past)

Derived Forms

misfirer

Phrases

back fire hang fire

Frequently Paired Words

back fire backfire hang fire

Synonyms

miss dud

Rhymes With

fire higher entire prior require desire wire hire acquire buyer tire liar

Questions

How do you pronounce misfire?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/.
What does misfire mean?: An act of misfiring.
Where does misfire come from?: Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).

How to pronounce misfire

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “misfire”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
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