mistake JUST WRITTEN FOR YOU

/mɪˈsteɪk/ · mis·take
noun
  1. An error or blunder. She realized her mistake as soon as the calculator displayed a wrong total.
  2. In baseball, a pitch that was intended to be placed in a difficult location but ends up in an easy-to-hit spot. The pitcher’s mistake gave the batter a perfect fastball to drive.
verb
  1. To understand wrongly, taking one thing or person for another. Don’t mistake my silence for disinterest.
  2. To misunderstand someone. He mistook her sarcasm for genuine praise.
  3. To commit an unintentional error; to do or think something wrong. I mistook the deadline and submitted the report a day late.
Did you know? The word ‘mistake’ entered English via Old Norse and originally meant ‘a taking in error’; its baseball sense is a modern extension first recorded in the late 20th century.
Written by Lexi Wordsworth, Dictionary Editor 0 lookups Added Jul 14, 2026