Meaning & use
miscalculate
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Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To calculate a number or amount wrongly.
Grammar: Can take an object (miscalculate the total) or be used alone (I miscalculated).
Patterns
- miscalculate something
- miscalculate by a large amount
I miscalculated the total cost of the trip and ran out of money.
The engineer miscalculated the weight of the bridge and it collapsed.
She miscalculated by about ten dollars.
verbtransitive
To judge a situation or risk badly, often with serious results.
Grammar: Usually takes an object like 'the situation' or 'the risk': He miscalculated the enemy's strength.
Patterns
- miscalculate the situation
- miscalculate the risk
- miscalculate someone's intentions
The company miscalculated the demand for the new phone and made too few.
He miscalculated her reaction and was surprised when she got angry.
The general miscalculated the enemy's strength and lost the battle.
Word forms
| third person singular | miscalculates |
|---|---|
| past tense | miscalculated |
| past participle | miscalculated |
| -ing form | miscalculating |
Common combinations
- miscalculate the cost
- They miscalculated the cost of the project and had to ask for more money.
- miscalculate the risk
- Investors who miscalculate the risk can lose a lot of money.
- seriously miscalculate
- The government seriously miscalculated the public's response to the new law.
- miscalculate by a wide margin
- The pollsters miscalculated by a wide margin and predicted the wrong winner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- misjudge
- Used more for judging people or situations, not for numbers; it does not mean making an arithmetic error.
- misestimate
- Formal and rare; means to estimate wrongly, often used in technical contexts.
- underestimate
- Means to guess an amount as too low, while miscalculate simply means to get it wrong in any direction.
Opposites
Word family
- miscalculation noun
- An error in calculating or judging.
- miscalculated adjective
- Based on a wrong calculation, as in a miscalculated move.
Commonly confused: miscalculate or calculate?
miscalculate vs calculate
Calculate means to work out an amount correctly; miscalculate means to do it wrongly.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'miscalculate' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Miscalculate' is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object without a preposition. 'Miscalculated the number' is correct; the other options wrongly add prepositions.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “miscalculate”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.