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Glite Dictionary
to mistake for

to mistake for

112 3.5
To think one person or thing is another
  • phrasal verb
  • /mɪˈsteɪk fɔr/
translation icon : confundir con
  • I think you've mistaken me for somebody else.
  • easily mistaken for
  • often mistaken for
  • mistaken for the real thing

I, I saw a white girl mistake Michael Jordan for somebody else.

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Examples

  • Papi, do not make the mistake of confusing me for one of your students.

    The Lost City (2005)

  • How could you mistake a stop sign for an acorn?

    Chicken Little (2005)

  • Some of them may come over here and mistake you for an enemy. "Enemy!"

    Fiction book (1991)

  • I, I saw a white girl mistake Michael Jordan for somebody else.

    What Now? with Trevor Noah

  • No one had ever, ever mistaken me for one of them, not even as a joke.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • You know now that I'm not the woman you mistook me for in Paris.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • There was always going to come a time when you'd be mistaken for one of them.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • We may be small, we may be adorable, but don't mistake our kindness for weakness.

    Smurfs (2025)

  • The day I met you, there was a white substance on your shoe that I mistook for plaster.

    Ace Ventura: When Nature Calls (1995)

  • It was easy to mistake her for her twin sister at first glance.

Synonyms

to confuse
vsto mistake for
142 1.9

Think one person or thing is another by mistake

describes the same wrong identification but as a clearer act of identification
to mistake
vsto mistake for
95 2.6

To think one person or thing is another

is the two-word phrase used for the same wrong identification
to confound
vsto mistake for
12 7.3

Mistake one thing or person for another

refers to wrong identification without implying a mix or swap
to mislabel
vsto mistake for
10 4.1

To give something the wrong name

focuses on wrong identification of identity rather than wrong labeling
to misidentify
vsto mistake for
9 6.5

Say a person or thing is a different one

is the everyday act of wrongly identifying rather than formal labeling
to misrecognize
vsto mistake for
  • US
8.1

Mistake a person or object for a different one

is the general act of wrongly identifying rather than a perception focus

Antonyms

to identify
∞ 1.8

Say who someone is or what something is

How Wrong

to mistake for
112 3.5
to confuse
142 1.9

Surface Forms

mistake for infinitive
mistaking for present participle
mistakes for third person singular
mistook for past
mistaken for past participle

Morphology

mistake + for

The meaning 'to wrongly identify someone or something as another' is directly derivable from 'mistake' (to wrongly identify) combined with the preposition 'for' functioning as 'as' or 'in the role of'. This verb+preposition composition is a standard, compositional pattern present cross-linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows the constituent meanings should understand the MWE.

Etymology

Mistake for comes from the parts mis- (meaning 'wrong') and take (which once meant 'to think of' someone as someone else). So to mistake someone for another is to 'take' them the wrong way, meaning to think they are the wrong person.