Misconception Meaning

/ˌmɪs.kənˈsɛp.ʃən/
C1

Definition, CEFR level C1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.

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nounA mistaken belief, a wrong idea.

It's a common misconception.
Believing nectarines to be a crossbreed of plums and peaches is a widespread misconception.
I can see how you might have that misconception.
Synonyms:
None
Antonyms:
CEFR Practice Quiz
Many people hold the ____ that the Great Wall of China is visible from space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is a common ____ that bats are completely blind in fact, most species can actually see quite well in the dark.

Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *mey-? Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der. Proto-Germanic *missaz Proto-Germanic *missa- Proto-West Germanic *missa- Old English mis- Middle English mys- English mis- Proto-Indo-European *ḱe? Proto-Indo-European *ḱóm Proto-Italic *kom Proto-Italic *kom- Latin con- Proto-Indo-European *kap- Proto-Indo-European *-yéti Proto-Indo-European *kapyéti Proto-Italic *kapjō Old Latin kapiō Latin capiō ▲ Ancient Greek σῠλλᾰμβᾰ́νω (sŭllămbắnō)calq. Latin concipiō Proto-Indo-European *-tis Proto-Indo-European *-Hō Proto-Indo-European *-tiHō Proto-Italic *-tiō Latin -tiō Latin conceptiōlbor. Old French conceptionbor. Middle English concepcioun English conception English misconception From mis- + conception.

"From November 28 to December 8, 1958, the CCP Central Committee held its sixth plenum in Wuhan, Hopei^([sic – meaning Hupei]), and at the end of the session it issued a revealing resolution that declared there had been some misconception about the system and that party committees throughout the countryside should make full use of the five months from December 1958 to April 1959 to tidy up the communes." — 1968, Lucian W. Pye, “The Political Process in Action: The Communes”, in The Spirit of Chinese Politics: A Psychocultural Study of the Authority Crisis in Political Development, M.I.T. Press, →LCCN, →OCLC, page 203:
"It is a common misconception that anal intercourse is an exclusively homosexual male practice. […] As elsewhere in Africa, little data exist on the role of anal sex in HIV acquisition in women in the general population […]" — 2010, S. S. Abdool Karim, Q. Abdool Karim, HIV/AIDS in South Africa, page 299:
"We also found that because of the prevalence of cannabis in serious and fatal crashes, the changes in state laws regarding its legal use, and the public’s misconceptions about its impairing effects on driving, educating drivers on the impairing effects of cannabis use and the illegality of driving under its influence is critical to highway safety." — 2024, NTSB, Intersection Crash Between Passenger Car and Combination Vehicle, Tishomingo, Oklahoma, March 22, 2022:

Explore More C1 Vocabulary Words

CEFR Practice Quiz
Many people hold the ____ that the Great Wall of China is visible from space.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
It is a common ____ that bats are completely blind in fact, most species can actually see quite well in the dark.

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