miss the point

Idioms and Phrases

Overlook or fail to understand the essential or important part of something, as in Chris missed the point of Gwen's complaint, thinking she was opposed to the date of the next meeting . This expression employs point in the sense of “the salient portion,” a usage dating from the late 1300s.

Example Sentences

But the idea of handling such a gleeful provocateur with kid gloves seems to somehow miss the point of De Palma’s work.

From Los Angeles Times

“But intellectual judgments of the Hitler experience — Hitler-Erlebnis — miss the point entirely.”

From Salon

Those who said "'Hitler's speeches are meaningless and empty,' wrote Hans Prinzhorn, 'miss the point entirely.' With Hitler, as perhaps with Trump, the medium is the message."

From Salon

Without a concerted approach, these efforts, though important, kind of miss the point, Mónica Ramírez said.

From Salon

In the view of prosecutors and several legal experts, her tendency to repeatedly ask the same question or miss the point of an argument is proof that the Trump-appointed judge is ill-suited to handle a trial that has already been delayed, repeatedly, by her willingness to grant hearings over the Trump team's most far-fetched requests.

From Salon

Related Words

• confuse
• miscalculate
• misconstrue
• misinterpret
• misjudge
• misread