What does misremembering mean?
Misremembering means recalling a person, place, event, or detail incorrectly. It differs from simply forgetting because it suggests that something is being remembered, but the memory is inaccurate, incomplete, or associated with the wrong circumstances. The word can be used in ordinary conversation, as in someone realizing they have misremembered a name, and in more formal descriptions of testimony, history, memory, and personal recollection. Its use often carries a corrective implication: the speaker is identifying a mistake in what someone believed or remembered. Although misremembering is grammatically a present participle, the base verb 'misremember' is more common in neutral writing. The expression is particularly associated with the difference between a person’s recollection and the established facts, as in accounts of testimony or historical events. It is also useful for describing ordinary errors in recalling dates, routes, conversations, and personal details.
verbTo remember something incorrectly or to fail to remember it accurately. The word often implies that the remembered version differs from what actually happened.
- To remember something incorrectly, inaccurately, or not at all.
"She had misremembered the year in which they first met."
"I was misremembering the route, so we took a wrong turn."
"The witness later admitted that he had misremembered the conversation."
Sometimes the problem is not that a memory vanished, but that it arrived with the wrong details.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does misremembering come from?
The form is formed from the prefix 'mis-' and the verb 'remember.' The prefix comes from Latin and means 'wrongly,' while 'remember' developed through Old French from Latin 'remorari,' a form built on 'memor,' meaning 'mindful' or 'remembering.' The combination therefore conveys the idea of recalling something wrongly. Related words including remembrance, memory, and memorial belong to the same wider Latin root associated with memory and the mind.
Related word forms
How misremembering is actually used
As a present participle, misremembering is used especially in phrases following a subject, such as 'I am misremembering the date.' The more common standalone forms are 'misremember' and 'misremembered.'
Easily confused with misremembering
Remember means to retain or recall information, whereas misremember means to recall it inaccurately or with the wrong details.