to misgive - Glite Dictionary

Examples

She began to misgive about her decision to move abroad after hearing stories of hardship.
I think that any scientist who does not go through the Bible is misgiving themselves.

Blog text (3)
As the meeting progressed, I felt a sense of misgiving about the proposed changes.
His constant doubts began to misgive her confidence in the project.

Synonyms

to worry

vsto misgive

∞ 1.0

To make someone feel nervous or upset about possible problems

causes fear or apprehension without focusing on specific problems

to fright

vsto misgive

2 3.2

To make someone feel afraid

creates fear plus an added sense of doubt or apprehension

to disquiet

vsto misgive

1 7.3

To make someone feel worried or uneasy

causes stronger fear or doubt as well as unease

Antonyms

to encourage

∞ 2.3

Give someone support and confidence so they try or keep doing something

to reassure

163 3.4

To make someone feel less worried and more confident

How Worried

to terrify

148 3.2

to alarm

133 1.9

to misgive

1 9.8

to unsettle

7 4.9

to disquiet

1 7.3

Surface Forms

misgive infinitive

misgiving present participle

misgives third person singular

misgave past

misgiven past participle

Morphology

misgive = give (semi-transparent) = mis + give

Formed by productive prefix 'mis-' + verb 'give' so the idea 'to give a bad/badly felt feeling' is inferable, but the precise sense 'cause apprehension' and its somewhat archaic usage may not be obvious to B1 learners.

Etymology

The word misgive is made of mis- ('wrong', as in mistake) and give ('to give someone a feeling', as in 'give someone hope'). So to misgive is to 'give a wrong feeling' to someone — to make them feel fear or doubt.