Misjudge
verbBase misjudge · Past misjudged · Past Participle misjudged · Present Participle misjudging · 3rd person misjudges
Definition
1. (verb) To form a wrong opinion about a person, situation, or thing — to underestimate or misunderstand them.
2. (verb) To make an incorrect calculation about distance, time, speed, or amount.
2. (verb) To make an incorrect calculation about distance, time, speed, or amount.
Context Alive
You started a new job last month and your first impression of the guy sitting opposite you was that he was cold and unfriendly. He never smiled, barely said hello, and ate lunch alone every day. You completely misjudged him. Turns out he's painfully shy and was terrified of saying the wrong thing to the new person. Last Friday you asked him to grab a coffee and now you can't get him to stop talking. He's actually hilarious.
Meanings
2 meanings 1 To Form a Wrong Opinion (Verb) Very Common ▼
This meaning is about getting the wrong impression of a person or situation — thinking one thing when reality is completely different. Imagine meeting someone at a party who seems arrogant because they talk a lot about themselves — but later you find out they were just nervous and overcompensating. You misjudged them. This is when your first reading of something turns out to be incorrect. You might say "I completely misjudged her — she's actually really kind" when your initial impression was wrong, or someone could say "the government misjudged the public mood" when officials didn't understand how people would react. Or think about a manager who thinks an employee is lazy, but it turns out they're dealing with a serious family problem. The manager misjudged the situation. The word suggests making an unfair or inaccurate assessment.
✏️ Misjudge almost always implies you got someone wrong in a negative way — you assumed the worst or missed something important. The phrase "I misjudged you" is a powerful thing to say because it's an honest admission that your first impression was unfair. It's a very mature thing to admit.
2 To Calculate Incorrectly (Verb) Common ▼
This meaning is about getting a physical measurement or timing wrong — misjudging distance, speed, or the amount of something. Imagine trying to park your car in a tight space and scraping the bumper because you misjudged how much room you had. This is when your brain estimates something incorrectly and it leads to a mistake. You might say "he misjudged the distance and missed the goal" about a footballer who kicked the ball too far, or someone could say "I misjudged the time and arrived an hour early" about a scheduling mistake. Or picture a driver who tries to overtake but misjudges the speed of the oncoming car — that's a dangerous miscalculation. The word suggests a mental error in estimating something physical.
✏️ In sports, misjudge is used constantly — misjudge a header, misjudge a catch, misjudge the bounce. In driving, it's a common word in accident reports: "the driver misjudged the distance." It's always about the gap between what you thought and what was actually there.
Common Patterns
Basic Structures
misjudge + person → to form an incorrect opinion about someone
I completely misjudged him — he's nothing like I expected.
misjudge + situation → to read a situation incorrectly
The company misjudged the market and launched the product too early.
misjudge + distance / speed / time → to estimate a physical measurement incorrectly
She misjudged the distance and fell short of the landing.
Common Structures
completely / totally misjudge → to get something entirely wrong
We totally misjudged how long the project would take.
badly misjudge → to make a serious error of judgement
The politician badly misjudged the public reaction to the policy.
easy to misjudge → something that people often get wrong
Quiet people are easy to misjudge — silence doesn't mean they have nothing to say.
Collocations
10 collocationsmisjudge someone
to form an unfair or incorrect opinion of a person
misjudge the situation
to misread what's happening and respond inappropriately
misjudge the distance
to incorrectly estimate how far something is
misjudge the mood
to misread how people are feeling
completely misjudge
to get something entirely wrong
badly misjudge
to make a serious error in assessment
misjudge the timing
to get the timing wrong — too early or too late
misjudge the speed
to incorrectly estimate how fast something is moving
easy to misjudge
commonly misunderstood or underestimated
misjudge the market
to wrongly predict what customers want or how the economy will behave
Example Sentences
10 examples
1
I completely misjudged her — I thought she was rude, but she was just really shy.
I got her totally wrong — I assumed she was unfriendly, but she was actually just timid.
2
The government badly misjudged the public's reaction to the new tax.
The government seriously underestimated how angry people would be about the new tax.
3
He misjudged the distance and his pass went straight to the other team.
He got the distance wrong and ended up passing the ball directly to the opposition.
4
Don't misjudge someone just because they're quiet in meetings.
Don't make assumptions about a person just because they don't speak up during meetings.
5
She misjudged the speed of the car and pulled out too late.
She incorrectly estimated how fast the car was going and turned onto the road too slowly.
6
We misjudged how long the renovation would take — it's still not finished.
We underestimated the time needed for the renovation — it's nowhere near done.
7
The coach misjudged the opponent's strength and didn't prepare the team properly.
The coach underestimated how strong the other side was and failed to get his team ready.
8
I think you've misjudged the situation — she's not angry, she's worried.
I think you've read this wrong — she isn't upset with you, she's concerned.
9
It's easy to misjudge people based on first impressions.
It's common to get the wrong idea about someone from the way they first come across.
10
The driver misjudged the gap and clipped the wing mirror of the parked car.
The driver got the space wrong and hit the side mirror of the car that was parked.
Synonyms & Antonyms
6 items
Synonymsunderestimate
specifically about thinking someone or something is less than they are
misread
very close — commonly used for situations, emotions, and body language
miscalculate
more about numbers, timing, or physical estimates than opinions of people
Antonymsassess correctly
to form an accurate and fair opinion
understand
to see things as they truly are
appreciate
to recognise the true value or nature of something