as in to misstate
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Recent Examples of misspeak
The health secretary also appeared to misspeak at the meeting, saying two people had died of the disease.
—
Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
People are just supposed to like you — you’re not supposed to misspeak, look fat, date the wrong person, have your makeup look a different color.
—Elias Leight, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2022
Dear Annie: Here is another perspective on the hyperaccurate person who corrects everyone who misspeaks.
—Annie Lane, oregonlive, 19 May 2020
In interviews, some voters said Mr. Gantz reminded them of Yitzhak Rabin, who also could misspeak and appear embarrassed when facing the news media.
—David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2019
Devi Shastri and Amanda Seitz The Associated Press, arkansasonline.com, 27 Feb. 2025
These leaders don’t merely lie or misspeak or make light of life and death.
—Megan Garber, The Atlantic, 23 Oct. 2024
Walz was criticized following the Oct. 1 debate for flubbing an answer about allegedly misspeaking about being in Hong Kong during the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre.
—Joey Nolfi, EW.com, 21 Oct. 2024
The Kremlin’s propaganda often uses instances of Biden misspeaking as proof of his ineptitude as the man in charge of Ukraine’s top military backer.
—Yuliya Talmazan, NBC News, 12 July 2024
Elsewhere, Claude and Angot’s mother, who had Christine out of wedlock and fought to get her father to recognize his child in a legal sense, are both similarly upbraided for misspeaking about Christine’s trauma in subtle ways, or for not being sympathetic in the right way.
—Leslie Felperin, The Hollywood Reporter, 22 Feb. 2024
People are just supposed to like you — you’re not supposed to misspeak, look fat, date the wrong person, have your makeup look a different color.
—Elias Leight, Rolling Stone, 12 Feb. 2022
Dear Annie: Here is another perspective on the hyperaccurate person who corrects everyone who misspeaks.
—Annie Lane, oregonlive, 19 May 2020
In interviews, some voters said Mr. Gantz reminded them of Yitzhak Rabin, who also could misspeak and appear embarrassed when facing the news media.
—David M. Halbfinger, New York Times, 24 Aug. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misspeak
Verb
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Correction: Due to a reporting error, an earlier version of this story misstated the name of the hospital where Lindsay Clancy is being treated.—
John R. Ellement,
BostonGlobe.com,
1 May 2023
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An earlier version of this article misstated Emily Busch’s position.—
Chuck Todd,
NBC News,
18 Apr. 2023
Verb
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The Mail reported there had been suggestions that Errol Musk may have misinterpreted his son's joke and incorrectly believed Grimes had wanted to ink her son for real.—
Daniel R. Depetris,
Newsweek,
25 Mar. 2025
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Allison’s legal team has suggested that the government may have misinterpreted the communications between Allison and the Slovakian killer.—
James Bandler,
ProPublica,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Corson proceeded to inform the court of Petersen’s previous convictions in 2016 and 2017 when she was charged with misrepresenting herself as her sister when stopped by law enforcement.—
Olivia Estright,
Twin Cities,
2 Apr. 2025
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In particular, Ozy co-founder and chief operating officer Samir Rao had misrepresented himself on a call with Goldman Sachs by pretending to be a YouTube executive, Alex Piper.—
Peter White,
Deadline,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Rosenworcel also dismissed a challenge to a Fox station license alleging that Fox willfully distorted news with false reports of fraud in the 2020 election that Trump lost.—
ArsTechnica,
ArsTechnica,
7 Apr. 2025
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But the only thing that is wild here is how badly the science supporting fluoridation is being distorted or ignored.—
Megha Satyanarayana,
Scientific American,
4 Apr. 2025
Verb
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SecNav’s just a big fan, and that message got garbled in a chain-of-command game of telephone.—
Sara Netzley,
EW.com,
11 Feb. 2025
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Without such compatibility, data can be garbled or lost when moving from the radio to the baseband unit, or vice versa.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
23 Apr. 2021
Verb
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In the ComEd Four case, the four defendants were convicted for falsifying books and records, not any bribery of foreign officials that the law originally sought to punish, the defense pointed out in asking Shah last month to stay the proceedings.—
Jason Meisner,
Chicago Tribune,
27 Mar. 2025
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She was sentenced in October 2014 to 15 months in prison after striking a deal with prosecutors and agreeing to plead guilty to mail, wire and bank fraud for falsifying statements on loan applications.—
Tracy Wright,
Fox News,
25 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The duo will work with one of Hargreave’s longtime colleagues and friends, chef Casey Wall, who most recently spent 15 years cooking in Melbourne, Australia, at spots like Bar Liberty and Above Board.—
Kate Kassin,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
10 Apr. 2025
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The volunteers, who are almost all women, serve as nutrition promoters, teaching families how to find, cook and preserve local high-nutrient foods.—
Forbes.com,
Forbes.com,
9 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Putin’s constant lies and dissembling undermined his credibility to international interlocutors, such as President Emmanuel Macron of France.—
Lawrence D. Freedman,
Foreign Affairs,
23 Sep. 2022
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Pushing back on reporters, at the time Scher often dissembled and appeared to brush aside concerns about what was clearly an increasingly out-of-control situation.—
Gil Kaufman,
Billboard,
19 July 2024
Cite this Entry
“Misspeak.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misspeak. Accessed 16 Apr. 2025.
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