misquoted

IPA/ˌmɪsˈkwəʊt/
KK[mɪskwˈotɪd]IPA/ˌmɪsˈkwoʊt/

misquoted — verb

  • misquotedpresent simple I / you / we / they
  • misquoteds3rd person singular
  • misquoteding-ing form
  • misquotededpast simple

1. to report what another person said using words that are different from their act

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to report what another person said using words that are different from their actual statement, creating a factual error in the record.

Example

Tamar felt upset when the newspaper misquoted her comments about the new school policy.

misquote + someone; passive structure possible

Beatrix checked her article twice to make sure she had not misquoted any of the professors.

negative form: not misquote + someone

Common collocations
  • misquote someone
  • misquote a statement
  • deliberately misquote
  • misquote in an article
  • widely misquoted
  • claimed to have been misquoted
Synonyms
  • misrepresent

    broader meaning — can refer to any distortion of facts, not just speech

  • distort

    stronger implication of twisting the truth, often deliberately

  • quote out of context

    more specific — refers to using a partial quote that changes the original meaning

Antonyms

Grammar Patterns

misquote + someone

misquote + something

be misquoted by + someone

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive voice (e.g. 'The actor was misquoted by the tabloid'). The direct object must be the person or statement being reported incorrectly, not the content of the error.

Common Mistakes

The reporter misquoted saying the mayor was angry.
The reporter misquoted the mayor by claiming she was angry.
The verb needs a direct object (someone or something), not a clause describing the error.

misquoted — noun

Word family

  • misquote
    verbB2
  • misquote
    nounB2
  • misquotation
    nounC1
  • misquoting
    verb (gerund)B2
  • quote
    verbA2
  • quotation
    nounB1

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

These three terms all describe communicating something inaccurately, but they differ in scope and intent. 'Misquote' is the most specific — it applies only to repeating someone's exact words wrongly. 'Misrepresent' is broader: you can misrepresent a person's opinion, a company's policy, or a scientific finding without quoting anything at all. 'Distort' carries a stronger implication of deliberate twisting, often for a deceptive purpose — a distorted statistic is worse than a misquoted one. 'Quote out of context' names a particular technique: using a real quote but omitting surrounding sentences so the meaning changes. For example, a blogger might misquote a celebrity's age, misrepresent the celebrity's political views across several posts, or quote a remark out of context by leaving off the speaker's clarifying follow-up sentence.

misrepresent ↗distort ↗quote out of context

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • claim to be misquoted
  • deny misquoting
  • misquote on purpose

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishLatinEnglish

The word 'misquote' is formed from the Old English prefix 'mis-' meaning 'wrongly' or 'badly', added to the verb 'quote', which comes from the Latin word 'quotare' meaning 'to mark the number of' or 'to number chapters'. The sense of 'quote' meaning 'to repeat someone's exact words' appeared in the late 1500s. The combination 'misquote' as a verb emerged in the 1800s, and the noun form followed shortly after.

First known use

1855

1855, in the meaning defined above Verb