mismeasure
verb
mis·mea·sure
ˌmis-ˈme-zhər 
-ˈmā-
mismeasured; mismeasuring
: to measure (something) badly or incorrectly : to make a mistake in measuring
… the mahogany paneling for the storefront had been mismeasured and arrived too large for the opening and had to be sent back.—
Alan J. Heavens
Alan J. HeavensIn the land of Julius Caesar—a brilliant politician who nonetheless mismeasured, fatally, the temper of the Roman Senate—it is hard to fathom why, as political animals, we can never seem to ingest the most basic laws of cause and effect.—Ingrid D. Rowland
Ingrid D. Rowland
mismeasurement
ˌmis-ˈme-zhər-mənt
noun
-ˈmā-
plural mismeasurements
By opposing false standards of measurement in both human and animal populations—in his measured hostility to mismeasurement—[Stephen Jay] Gould will be seen as one of the last great American liberals …
—Michael Neve
Michael Neve
Examples of mismeasure in a Sentence
the television network seriously mismeasured public reaction to the unceremonious dismissal of the popular anchorwoman
Recent Examples on the Web
Then, if all goes smoothly, a journey down the Nile — which might, after all, also be mismeasured — could be next.
—Marina Dias, Washington Post, 12 June 2023
This was the quality that was mismeasured by the sensors and misinterpreted by the control unit of the Boeing 737 Max, contributing to the two crashes of that airliner.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 May 2019
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Marina Dias, Washington Post, 12 June 2023
This was the quality that was mismeasured by the sensors and misinterpreted by the control unit of the Boeing 737 Max, contributing to the two crashes of that airliner.
—IEEE Spectrum, 21 May 2019
Cite this Entry
“Mismeasure.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mismeasure. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share