Dictionary

misappreciation en · NOUN

Etymology

From mis- + appreciation.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) A failure to correctly and completely understand; an incorrect notion or belief that is a result of such a failure.
   • Although he claims to be a postmodernist, his misappreciation of the philosophy is such that he still clings to the idea of absolute truth.
   • The notion that keeping half a million men in South Vietnam indefinitely was a credible posture must be one of the most laughable misappreciations of the war. 1995, Alan J. Levine, The United States and the Struggle for Southeast Asia, 1945-1975, page 128:
   • It is the duty of the individual juror to strive to avoid any misappreciation of the evidence, no matter how it is represented by the barristers.
   • I accuse you rather of misappreciation than of misstatement. 1849, Alexis de Tocqueville, Correspondence & Conversations of Alexis de Tocqueville with Nassau William Senior from 1834 to 1859, Vol. 2:
2. (countable, dated, uncountable) An observed failure to appreciate the proper worth of a person, an act or a thing.
   • But it is the lot of goodness and truth ever to meet with misappreciation and disdain. 1909, Anna Katharine Green, The Forsaken Inn:
   • "He might not have meant to ignore her," answered Isabel thoughtfully; "he might have chosen not to introduce her because he felt too proud of her to subject her to any possible misappreciation from them." 1871, William Dean Howells, Their Wedding Journey:

Forms

Relateds

misappreciate · disappreciation

Synonyms

despisement (failure to appreciate) · misunderstanding (failure to understand) · mistake (failure to understand) · error (failure to understand) · misapprehension (failure to understand) · disdain (failure to appreciate) · scorn (failure to appreciate)