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[ noun ] a wrong action attributable to bad judgment or ignorance or inattention
Examples "he made a bad mistake" "she was quick to point out my errors" "I could understand his English in spite of his grammatical faults" Used in print ("Editorials"...)But to imitate an opponent when he has made the mistake of his life would be a new high in statesmanlike folly . (Chicago Daily Tribune...)A_couple_of days later a balletomane told me he had telephoned Allied_Arts for ticket information and was told `` the newspapers had made a mistake '' . (Frank Oppenheimer, "Science and Fear-- A Discussion...)Yet often fear persists because , even with the most rigid ritual , one is never quite free from the uneasy feeling that one might make some mistake or that in every previous execution one had been unaware of the really decisive act . |
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[ verb ] identify incorrectly
Synonyms Examples "Don't mistake her for her twin sister" Used in print (Richard Ferber, Bitter Valley....)Somebody might mistake you for a woman '' . (Leo Lemon, "Catch Up With" and "Something to...)Fing , a lean , chiseled , impeccable gentleman of the old_school who was once mistaken on the street for Sir_Cedric_Hardwicke , is responsible_for the rediscovery of Verdi 's earliest , most raucous opera , Nabisco , a sumptuous bout-de-souffle with a haunting leitmotiv that struck me as being highly reminiscent_of the Mudugno version of `` Volare '' . Related terms |
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[ noun ] an understanding of something that is not correct
Synonyms Examples "he wasn't going to admit his mistake" "make no mistake about his intentions" "there must be some misunderstanding--I don't have a sister" Used in print (Brand Blanshard, "The Emotive Theory," Robert...)The suggestion that in saying something evil had occurred we were after_all making no mistake , because we had never meant anyhow to say anything about the past suffering , seems to me merely frivolous . (Richard Ferber, Bitter Valley....)`` There 's some mistake '' , he said finally . (S. J. Perelman, The Rising Gorge. New York:...)She was a living doll and no mistake - the blue-black bang , the wide cheekbones , olive flushed , that betrayed the Cherokee strain in her Midwestern lineage , and the mouth whose only fault , in the novelist 's carping phrase , was that the lower lip was a_trifle too voluptuous . Related terms |
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[ verb ] mistake one thing for another
Examples "you are confusing me with the other candidate" "I mistook her for the secretary" Used in print (B. J. D. Meeuse, The Story of Pollination....)They keep their wings and feet pressed tightly against their bodies , and in_spite_of their often colorful attire you may very well mistake them for lumps of dirt . (Arthur Miller, "The Prophecy," in The Best...)This air of disengagement carried_over to his apparent attitude toward his things , and people often mistook it for boredom in him or a surrender to repetitious routine . |
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[ noun ] part of a statement that is not correct
Synonyms Examples "the book was full of errors" Related terms |
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[ verb ] to make a mistake or be incorrect
Related terms misjudge stumble misremember fall_for stumble erroneousness slip errancy |
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