mistake

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“
So to patronize me for my use of the term mistake is a mistake, also.

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Definitions (25)

Toggle American Heritage definitions American Heritage Dictionary (5)

  1. noun An error or fault resulting from defective judgment, deficient knowledge, or carelessness.
  2. noun A misconception or misunderstanding.
  3. transitive verb To understand wrongly; misinterpret: mistook my politeness for friendliness.
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Toggle Century definitions Century Dictionary (12)

Toggle GNU Webster definitions GNU Webster's 1913 (3)

Toggle WordNet definitions WordNet (5)

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Examples (50)

  • Not surprisingly, the mistake was a result of deadline pressure and the spell checker. —  Regret the Error
  • Obama's team says his mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations and foreign embassies that don't pay the employer share of Social Security taxes. —  Latest Headlines - ABC 7 News
  • "What would've been a mistake is any knee-jerk reaction," he said Wednesday. —  DesMoinesRegister.com - NEWS
  • We know the mistake was and that we should have known better.
  • Obama's team says his mistake was a common one for people hired by international organizations and foreign embassies that don't pay the employer share of taxes. —  Yahoo! News: Top Stories
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This word has been looked up 121 times.

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Related

Roget's II Roget's II: The New Thesaurus

Allen's Allen's Synonyms and Antonyms

Used in the same context Used in the Same Context

error ·  blunder ·  failure ·  weakness ·  accident ·  difficulty ·  disaster ·  misunderstanding ·  confusion ·  defect ·  crime ·  decision

Used in the same contextWord Family

mistake:   mistakes ·  mistook ·  mistaking ·  mistaken
Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary. Copyright © 2003, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Etymologies (3)

Toggle American Heritage etymologies American Heritage Dictionary (1)

  1. From Middle English mistaken, to misunderstand, from Old Norse mistaka, to take in error : mis-, wrongly; see mei-1 in Indo-European roots + taka, to take.

Toggle Century etymologies Century Dictionary (2)

  1. from Middle English mistaken, from Icelandic mistaka, take wrongly, make a slip (= Swedish misstaga, make a mistake), from mis-, wrongly, + taka, take: see mis- and take.
  2. = Danish Swedish misstag; from the verb.
 

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/mɪsˈteɪk/
by American Heritage

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