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Meaning & use

misquote

verb, noun·Academic

Last updated

UK/ˌmɪsˈkwəʊt/
US/ˌmɪsˈkwoʊt/

Meanings

  1. verbtransitive

    To repeat what someone said or wrote in words that are not exactly theirs, so the quotation is wrong.

    Grammar: Takes an object, either the person or the words: misquote the senator, misquote a line.

    Patterns

    • misquote someone
    • misquote something
    • be misquoted

    The newspaper misquoted the mayor and caused an uproar.

    He misquoted the poem, replacing 'dark' with 'deep'.

    I'm sorry if I misquote you, but I think you said Tuesday.

  2. nouncountable

    A wrong version of someone's words that is presented as what they said.

    Grammar: Countable: a misquote, two misquotes; also spelled 'misquotation'.

    Patterns

    • a misquote of something

    The famous line is actually a misquote.

    Her lawyer demanded a correction for the misquote.

    The article contained several misquotes.

Word forms

third person singularmisquotes
past tensemisquoted
past participlemisquoted
-ing formmisquoting

Common combinations

be misquoted
The coach claimed he was misquoted in the paper.
misquote someone
Please don't misquote me on this.
misquote a line
He misquoted a line from the play.
frequently misquoted
The speech is frequently misquoted.
deliberately misquote
Critics accused her of deliberately misquoting the report.

Synonyms and how they differ

misreport
Misreport covers any wrong account of events or words, while misquote is limited to the exact words someone used.
misrepresent
Misrepresent means to give a false picture of someone's views, even if no direct words are quoted.
garble
Garble means to mix up a message so it becomes confused, whereas misquote suggests a clear but incorrect wording.

Opposites

quote accurately

Word family

misquotation noun
an incorrect quotation
quote verb
to repeat someone's words exactly
quotation noun
a group of words taken from a text or speech
misquoted adjective
reported with the wrong words

Commonly confused: misquote or misinterpret?

misquote vs misinterpret

Misinterpret concerns getting the meaning wrong, whereas misquote concerns getting the words wrong.

Practice

A reporter changes a politician's exact words and prints them in quotation marks. The reporter has ______ her.

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