to mismarry

9.7

To marry someone considered unsuitable by family or society

verb
/ˌmɪsˈmɛri/

: casarse mal

He believed he had mismarried and regretted his decision for years.

Examples

Don't mismarry someone just for their money!
Families sometimes fear their children will mismarry due to social or financial differences.
She warned her daughter not to mismarry out of desperation.
She mismarried last year.
Parents often worry that their children might mismarry someone they disapprove of.
She felt she would mismarry if she chose to marry him against her family's wishes.
Many people fear they could mismarry and end up unhappy in an unsuitable relationship.

Synonyms

to mismate

vsto mismarry

1 9.3

To pair two animals or plants for breeding when they are not suitable together

is about forming a formal or legal lifelong union rather than general pairing

How Suitable

to marry

∞ 1.0

to mismarry

9.7

Surface Forms

mismarry infinitive

mismarried past

mismarried past participle

mismarrying present participle

mismarries third person singular

Morphology

mismarry = marry (transparent) = mis + marry

The prefix 'mis-' clearly indicates an error or wrong action, making the meaning 'to marry wrongly' transparent.

Etymology

Mismarry is made of the prefix mis- meaning 'wrong' and marry, which means 'to take a partner'. So, like in mistake, to mismarry is to 'marry wrongly' and to marry someone seen as unsuitable by family or society.