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Glite Dictionary
to misspell

to misspell

36 1.7
Write a word or name with the wrong letters
  • verb
  • /ˌmɪsˈpɛl/
translation icon : deletrear mal
  • Thank God we have a spell check because I misspell so many words.
  • misspell a word
  • misspell a name
  • be misspelled in a catalog

And wow, they managed to misspell KKK.

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Examples

  • You misspelled "senator."

    The Debut (2000)

  • I know a man who was detained in Bratsk for 28 days because his name had been misspelled on the visa.

    TransSiberian (2008)

  • I misspell my name all the time.

    Regular Show: The Movie (2015)

  • There are several words I constantly misspell.

    Breach (2007)

  • His picture was in the paper once, but you misspelled his name.

    Perfect (1985)

  • Unless she concentrated fiercely, she would misspell familiar words such as "believe" or "receive."

    Academic text (1996)

  • Ask your student to identify misspelled words in writing assignments and add them to the spelling list.

    Academic text (2014)

  • Examine each document with a critical eye, looking for inconsistencies, missing labels, or misspelled words.

    Academic text (2002)

  • He misspelled "girl".

    Elsewhere (2009)

  • I often misspell common words like 'definitely' and 'separate.'

Synonyms

to mistype
vsto misspell
1 2.9

To press the wrong key when you write on a keyboard

refers to wrong letters in words or names rather than keyboard slips
to miswrite
vsto misspell
4.3

Write something wrong, for example a wrong date or phone number

focuses specifically on wrong letters in words or names

Antonyms

to spell
400 1.0

Say or write the letters of a word in the correct order

How Correctly

to spell
400 1.0
to misspell
36 1.7
to butcher
  • Informal
35 3.7

Surface Forms

misspell infinitive
misspelled past
misspelled past participle
misspelling present participle
misspells third person singular

Morphology

misspell = spell (transparent) = mis + spell

The prefix 'mis-' clearly indicates an incorrect action, making the meaning directly derivable from 'spell'.

Etymology

Misspell is made of the parts mis- meaning 'wrong' and spell meaning 'to write the letters of a word', like in mistake where mis- also shows something wrong. So, to misspell a word is to write its letters wrong or in the wrong order.