mishear

mishear — verb

1. to wrongly hear spoken words and end up believing a different word or phrase was

1.動詞及物 / 不及物B1
釋義

to wrongly hear spoken words and end up believing a different word or phrase was said — for instance, thinking someone asked 'where is the key?' when they actually asked 'where is the tea?'

例句

Minh misheard the teacher's name and called her Mrs. Evans instead of Mrs. Adams.

mishear + noun phrase (a person's name)

I think I misheard the instructions; could you please go over them once more?

first-person reflection: 'I think I misheard…'

同義詞
  • misunderstand

    broader — can refer to failing to grasp meaning, not just sound; less specific than 'mishear'

  • get wrong

    informal; covers various kinds of mistakes (hearing, understanding, remembering)

  • mistake

    as in 'mistake someone's words' — similar meaning but less common in everyday speech

文法句型

mishear + noun phrase (a person, words, a name)

mishear + wh-clause

mishear X as Y

mishear (no object)

用法筆記

Often occurs in the past tense ('Sorry, I misheard you') because the mistake is noticed after it happens. The pattern 'mishear X as Y' (e.g. 'I misheard 'thirty' as 'thirteen'') is common for specifying which words got confused.

常見錯誤

❌He misheard the meaning of the poem.
✅He misunderstood the meaning of the poem.
💡'mishear' only applies to spoken words you hear wrongly, not to interpreting written texts.
❌I misheard you' (when you simply disagree, not when you got the sound wrong).
✅I misheard you
💡I thought you said Friday, not Thursday.' — 'mishear' is about auditory confusion, not about disagreeing with someone.