mishear
/mɪsˈhɪə(ɹ)/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.38 in modern English
12
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
7
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To misunderstand.
Example Sentences
- "I misheard when she asked for mints, and gave her mince instead."
- "And if any mishear or misutter it, even that also serves, since it warns."
- "When a slickly handsome drug dealer named Legrand (Michael Beach, in the film's most seductive performance), first meets the teen-ager on the playground, he mishears the name Manigault. "Did he say Nanny Goat?" Legrand asks, explaining the nickname in one quick, witty stroke."
- "Our report of a relative who, as a child, thought the classic version of the Lord's Prayer began "Our father, a chart in heaven, Harold be thy name" stated that this type of mistake is known as an eggcorn. A number of readers have suggested that instances like this in which a whole phrase rather than just a word is misheard, should be called mondegreens rather than eggcorns."
Etymology
From Middle English misheren, from Old English mishȳran, mishīeran (“to hear amiss, not listen to, disobey”), equivalent to mis- + hear.
Origin
Word Breakdown
- Root: misheren, mishȳran