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Synonyms

mistook

American  
[mi-stook] / mɪˈstʊk /

verb

  1. the simple past tense of mistake.

mistook British  
/ mɪˈstʊk /

verb

  1. the past tense of mistake

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

At least 59 detainees were freed because the system mistook them for other people.

From Barron's

This time it hit after he booted his own center Steven Jamerson II from a game at Michigan State on Feb. 17, overreacting because he mistook a clean basketball play for something else.

From Los Angeles Times

A resident mistook the toy for a real firearm and called police to report an armed person, he said.

From Los Angeles Times

When I was young, I mistook restraint for weakness and anger for honesty.

From The Wall Street Journal

Characterized as “myths,” for example, were the age-old beliefs that Native Americans mistook the conquistadors for gods, and that a mere handful of Spaniards toppled great empires with ease.

From The Wall Street Journal

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.