misgeneralize
misgeneralize verb: to make an incorrect generalization.
Verb
misgeneralize (third-person singular simple present misgeneralizes, present participle misgeneralizing, simple past and past participle misgeneralized)
- To make an incorrect generalization.
- These programs may differ substantially, however, when examined in the light of their effects on the thought processes used to add and subtract, and of the likelihood that students will misinterpret or misgeneralize the principles implicit in the curriculum activities.1984, Andrew Garrod, Perspectives on Teaching, Learning and Development, page 482
- The structure [noun+of+ noun] is both exemplified in English such as the arm of the chair and in Spanish ([noun+de+ noun] being the unmarked construction for possessive), hence the potential for the Spanish speaker to misgeneralize the Spanish [noun+de+ noun] in the L2 input and to transfer the...1995, Virginia Yip, Interlanguage and Learnability: From Chinese to English, page 17
Examples of misgeneralize in a sentence
- That's not to say that developers who use the class won't still misgeneralize the getting-vs-storing axiom.2005, Damian Conway, Perl Best Practices:
- Thinking about the case in this way sheds new light on the errors of those who misgeneralize on its basis.2014, Tamar Szabo Gendler, Thought Experiment: On the Powers and Limits of Imaginary Cases, page 1970:
Forms of misgeneralize
| third-person singular present | misgeneralizes |
|---|---|
| present participle | misgeneralizing |
| past participle | misgeneralized |
| past | misgeneralized |
| alternative form | misgeneralise |
Origin of misgeneralize
From mis- + generalize.
Questions about misgeneralize
- What does misgeneralize mean?
- Misgeneralize means to make an incorrect generalization.
- How do you use misgeneralize in a sentence?
- That's not to say that developers who use the class won't still misgeneralize the getting-vs-storing axiom.
- What part of speech is misgeneralize?
- Misgeneralize is a verb.
- What is the past tense of misgeneralize?
- The past tense of misgeneralize is misgeneralized.
Words near misgeneralize in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: misgeneralize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “misgeneralize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/misgeneralize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.