What does mislocate mean?
Mislocate means to place something in the wrong place or to determine incorrectly where something is. The word is particularly useful when the location of an object, record, person, or responsibility matters. In everyday conversation, misplace is often more natural: a person may misplace keys, while a report may describe a team as having mislocated a document or a technician as having mislocated a component. Mislocate can also suggest that a location was established or recorded incorrectly, not merely that an item was temporarily lost. Its somewhat formal and technical tone makes it common in professional, editorial, administrative, and investigative writing. Although it overlaps closely with misplace, mislocate often emphasizes the assigning of something to an incorrect position. The prefix mis- combines with locate, meaning “to find” or “to place,” to indicate an incorrect result.
verbTo place or locate something in the wrong place. It can also refer to putting something in the wrong physical, geographic, or organizational position.
- To place or locate something in the wrong place.
"The technician mislocated the faulty component and had to begin the inspection again."
"The report explains how the researcher mislocated the specimen during transport."
"I mislocated my keys and found them in the freezer."
Mislocate is the precise verb for putting something in the wrong place—especially useful when the wrong place is part of the story.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does mislocate come from?
Mislocate is formed in English from the prefix mis-, meaning “wrongly,” and locate, meaning “to find” or “to place.” Locate ultimately comes from Latin locare, “to place,” which is related to locus, “place.” The prefixed form developed as a specialized verb for placing or identifying something incorrectly. Its relatives include location, locator, allocation, relocate, and dislocate.
Related word forms
How mislocate is actually used
The word is more formal than the everyday verb misplace and is especially common in technical, editorial, administrative, and investigative contexts. It can describe physical objects as well as documents, references, records, or responsibilities assigned to the wrong person or system.
Easily confused with mislocate
Mislocate is a more formal or technical term, while misplace is more common in everyday speech; both mean to put something in the wrong place.