Word.ws English Dictionary

misspeaking

/mɪsˈspiːkɪŋ/

misspeaking is the present participle and gerund of misspeak.

Noun

misspeaking (countable and uncountable, plural misspeakings)

  1. The fact or instance of speaking incorrectly, falsely, or unclearly.
    • Near-synonym: speako (countable)
    Synonyms:
    misspeech, speako
  2. (obsolete) Speaking ill; defamation, slander.

Meaning of misspeak

Verb

misspeak (third-person singular simple present misspeaks, present participle misspeaking, simple past misspoke, past participle misspoken)

  1. (US, ambitransitive) To fail to pronounce, utter, or speak correctly.
    • Either I misspoke or you misheard.
    Synonyms:
    mistalk
  2. (intransitive, obsolete) To speak insultingly or disrespectfully.

Synonyms of misspeaking

Forms of misspeaking

pluralmisspeakings

Origin of misspeaking

From misspeak + -ing.

Questions about misspeaking

What does misspeaking mean?
Misspeaking means the fact or instance of speaking incorrectly, falsely, or unclearly.
What is misspeaking the present participle and gerund of?
Misspeaking is the present participle and gerund of misspeak.
What part of speech is misspeaking?
Misspeaking is a noun.
How do you pronounce misspeaking?
Misspeaking is pronounced /mɪsˈspiːkɪŋ/.
What is the plural of misspeaking?
The plural of misspeaking is misspeakings.

Words near misspeaking in the dictionary

  1. misspacing
  2. misspat
  3. misspeak
  4. misspeaker
  5. misspeakers
  6. misspeaking
  7. misspeakings
  8. misspeaks
  9. misspecification
  10. misspecifications
  11. misspecified

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: misspeaking (page history and authors); misspeak (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.

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Cite this entry: “misspeaking.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/misspeaking. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.