How to Use mistake in a Sentence

mistake

1 of 2 verb
Definition of mistakenext
Synonyms for mistakenext
  • Some guests mistook it for gravy and poured it on their food!
    — Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 28 Nov. 2023
  • Still, there’s no mistaking the fact that the Sahara Desert is, well, a desert.
    — Stephen C. George, Discover Magazine, 5 Feb. 2024
  • The trick is to wear colors startling enough that on a gray day you won’t be mistaken for part of the hedge.
    — Ellen Hawley, WSJ, 10 Nov. 2023
  • But don’t mistake it for fussy—playfulness is the rule here.
    — Liza Weisstuch, Robb Report, 8 July 2023
  • There’s no mistaking the smell and taste of this powder.
    — Kelsey Kunik, Rd, Health, 29 Dec. 2023
  • Winter had mistaken this Armstrong for Neil Armstrong, the first man on the moon, who died in 2012.
    — Marina Koren, The Atlantic, 28 Aug. 2023
  • But Bober said be alert that ticks can often be mistaken as moles or skin tags.
    — Alyssa Hui, Verywell Health, 16 July 2023
  • But there is no mistaking the breadth and ambition of the shift Mr. Trump is eyeing.
    — Jonathan Swan, New York Times, 11 Nov. 2023
  • Greg Allman came to one dinner with his then wife, Cher, who mistook a finger bowl for a drink and downed it.
    — Charles Bethea, The New Yorker, 27 Mar. 2023
  • But don’t mistake these for feeling rough or plastic-like.
    — Todd Plummer, Travel + Leisure, 13 June 2023
  • Yes, a treat here and there can result in a nice little pick-me-up, but don’t mistake it for something lasting.
    — Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 16 Mar. 2023
  • The cards came in plain white envelopes that confused some families who mistook them for junk mail.
    — Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 9 July 2023
  • Demna goes on to tell me how a customer in the store mistook him for an Erewhon employee, thanks to his all-black outfit.
    — Nathan Taylor Pemberton, Rolling Stone, 20 Jan. 2024
  • One of them was a neighbor holding an object police mistook for a weapon.
    — Andrew Ford, The Arizona Republic, 5 Mar. 2024
  • But sometimes that means that people mistake it for something less, like cold.
    — Jenelle Riley, Variety, 5 Jan. 2024
  • The area is crowded with attendees who have mistaken it for a VIP section or just want a good view.
    — Lina Abascal, Los Angeles Times, 28 Dec. 2023
  • Miss Manners advises you to take comfort in knowing that no one mistook her for the bride, and some may have been amused at the attempt.
    — Miss Manners | Judith Martin, Anchorage Daily News, 18 July 2023
  • There's no mistaking the Spectre for anything but a Rolls-Royce.
    — Car and Driver, 3 July 2023
  • Most of us did not know what poetry was and mistook curlicues, flourishes, and acrobatic metaphors for the apex of the form.
    — The New Yorker, 17 Oct. 2023
  • Just be sure to not mistake a Rivian delivery van for a Ram.
    — Frankie Cruz, Car and Driver, 1 Mar. 2023
  • That result shouldn't be mistaken for a sudden surge in support for Biden.
    — Rick Klein, ABC News, 7 Nov. 2023
  • Few people would mistake Bethenny Frankel for a champion of the working class.
    — Meredith Blake, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2023
  • In a long-ago interview, the director Mike Nichols cautioned a nascent film reviewer to not mistake the dancer for the dance.
    — Lisa Kennedy, New York Times, 5 Sep. 2023
  • The lace bodice in her bodysuit and lace cover-up could be mistaken for a dress from far away but the styling that Haynes pulled off was incredible.
    — Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 2 Aug. 2023
  • While the effect might be mistaken for an artifact of the way the image was produced, astronomers say that in this case the rings are quite real.
    — Dan Falk, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 July 2023
  • The monkey deity’s name originates from a story in which Hanuman, then a child, mistakes the sun for a fruit and attempts to grab it.
    — Aaron Boorstein, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Apr. 2024
  • He’d been mistaken for Harry Styles at a bar in rural Ireland.
    — Hazlitt, 28 Feb. 2024
  • The Williams campus is a humdrum brick pile that could be mistaken for an office park — a far cry from McLaren’s space-age complex an hour’s drive away.
    — Michael M. Grynbaum, New York Times, 13 May 2023
  • Some mistake the concept of persistence with that of pushiness.
    — Elizabeth Waddington, Treehugger, 25 Aug. 2023
  • People often mistake a slow connection for a slow phone.
    — Dua Rashid / Gizmodo, Quartz, 24 Mar. 2024
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mistake

2 of 2 noun
  • There's a mistake in the schedule.
  • There must be some mistake.
  • It would be a mistake to assume that we can rely on their help.
  • The manuscript contains numerous spelling mistakes.
  • Regardless, the mistake came back to hurt on the Tigers on the scoreboard.
    — Evan Petzold, Detroit Free Press, 6 May 2023
  • Among the first rules of P.R. is learning from your mistakes.
    — Prem Thakker, The New Republic, 19 July 2023
  • There are a few mistakes that could mess up your French toast.
    — Jessica Furniss, Southern Living, 20 Oct. 2023
  • This wasn’t a slip of the tongue or an innocent mistake.
    — Dan Wolken, USA TODAY, 9 May 2023
  • And be sure to avoid these common Dutch oven mistakes, too.
    — Moriah Mason, Southern Living, 19 July 2023
  • Hyde said the pitch to Farmer was the lone mistake Irvin made on the night, then corrected himself.
    — Nathan Ruiz, Baltimore Sun, 8 July 2023
  • Take time to evaluate why the loss occurred and learn from the mistake.
    — Rolling Stone Culture Council, Rolling Stone, 8 Sep. 2023
  • And when Max did a great job taking care of the ball and not making mistakes and turning the ball over.
    — Sportsday Staff, Dallas News, 15 Aug. 2023
  • But, don’t make the mistake of locking the lid during cooking.
    — Carrie Honaker, Southern Living, 8 Sep. 2023
  • The bright lights, the pressure of the campaign trail, the sleepless nights, things like that would make anybody of any age make a mistake like that.
    — Dana Taylor, USA TODAY, 23 Feb. 2024
  • Everybody else gets to make their mistakes in the cloak of darkness at your house.
    — Katie Mannion, Peoplemag, 15 May 2023
  • Don’t make these spring break mistakes Spring break has its own pitfalls.
    — Christopher Elliott, King Features Syndicate, The Mercury News, 29 Jan. 2024
  • Here are six investing mistakes, and how to avoid them.
    — Becca Stanek, The Week, 14 June 2023
  • So there’s a dark side to it where you’re not really allowed to make mistakes.
    — Brian Davids, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Aug. 2023
  • The guy is just a guy who visits his sister and makes the mistake of going into a restaurant.
    — Françoise Mouly, The New Yorker, 28 Aug. 2023
  • His play has gone from very good to meh — trying too hard and making mistakes — just like in Arizona.
    — Sam Farmer, Los Angeles Times, 7 Dec. 2023
  • Much of that time was spent making almost 3 million edits to fix the A.I.’s mistakes.
    — Rachel Shin, Fortune, 8 July 2023
  • Approaching the work with these learnings, at the point of achievements but also of mistakes.
    — Isabela Raygoza, Billboard, 18 Jan. 2024
  • The grave mistake has since prompted an outpouring of anger and grief from Israelis.
    — Rebecca Cohen, NBC News, 17 Dec. 2023
  • In the same case, Cannon also forgot to swear in the jury pool, a mistake which forced the judge to restart the jury selection process.
    — Alex Shephard, The New Republic, 4 Aug. 2023
  • Speaking from her Vermont home, Jones says the biggest mistake a recipe can make is not to give cooks the necessary tools to do the job.
    — Bill Daley, Charlotte Observer, 31 Jan. 2024
  • State officials did not disclose how the mistake was made.
    — Jon Chesto, BostonGlobe.com, 1 June 2023
  • The announcement seemed to amount to an admission that the now-infamous raid had been a mistake.
    — Jonathan O'Connell, Paul Farhi and Sofia Andrade, Anchorage Daily News, 26 Aug. 2023
  • The attack on my character is full of mistakes and omissions.
    — Nina Corcoran, Pitchfork, 25 Nov. 2023
  • Reframing failure as a natural part of launching and running a business helps free you from the fear of making mistakes–which everyone does.
    — Max Gellert, Forbes, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Israel’s account of its attack on a World Central Kitchen convoy raises significant legal questions even if the strike was the result of a series of mistakes, experts say.
    — Amanda Taub, New York Times, 8 Apr. 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mistake.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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