misremember

verb

mis·​re·​mem·​ber ˌmis-ri-ˈmem-bər How to pronounce misremember (audio)
misremembered; misremembering

transitive + intransitive

1
: to remember incorrectly
When people report on complex social or political situations, they may misremember many of the specifics … yet can accurately describe the basic situation that took place.Rita L. Atkinson et al.
Perhaps I misremember. But I think not.Anne F. Thurston
2
chiefly dialectal : to be unable to remember : forget
… I misremember what I came here for.Rudyard Kipling

Examples of misremember in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Classic games like Clue are often taught through oral tradition and that distorts how the game is played because people misremember the rules or were taught versions with house rules. Rob Wieland, Forbes, 31 Oct. 2024 Carr had to assemble her portrait of the young Candy from snippets, fragments, misremembered memories, and family shame. Hilton Als, The New Yorker, 8 Apr. 2024 Surprisingly, when characters appeared to overcome depression, participants often misremembered this recovery as belonging to the competent character. Mark Travers, Forbes, 27 Mar. 2024 Biden’s age, of course, has long been a topic of debate, and conservatives have spent much of his Presidency sharing clips of names misremembered and words misspoken. Dhruv Khullar, The New Yorker, 18 Feb. 2024 Most historians assume that since Priestley consulted with Franklin (who was in London at the time) while writing his treatise, this account is probably largely accurate, though Franklin may have misremembered some of the details more than a decade later. Chuong Nguyen, Ars Technica, 24 May 2023 The record closes out a three-album run in which Lopatin has remembered, misremembered, and invented his own coming of age. Amanda Petrusich, The New Yorker, 25 Sep. 2023 Laurence Miller, a police psychologist and law enforcement trainer based in Florida, said there are legitimate reasons why an officer or anyone else in a high-stress, life-or-death situation may misremember details of the event. USA TODAY, 26 Aug. 2023 Distorted or misremembered history, however, is dangerous. Micah Zenko, Foreign Affairs, 28 Mar. 2011

Word History

First Known Use

1533, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of misremember was in 1533

Dictionary Entries Near misremember

Cite this Entry

“Misremember.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misremember. Accessed 25 Nov. 2024.

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