misbehave
verb
misbehave is spelled M-I-S-B-E-H-A-V-E: 9 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,337th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, misbehave means “To act or behave in an inappropriate, improper, incorrect, or unexpected manner” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in misbehave?
| Letters | 9: M-I-S-B-E-H-A-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 52,337th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is misbehave?
Misbehave appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 52,337th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce misbehave?
- US
Misbehave has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-misbehave.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of misbehave
- misbehaves present, singular, he/she/it
- misbehaving participle, present
- misbehaved participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misbehave mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
verb
- 1
To act or behave in an inappropriate, improper, incorrect, or unexpected manner.
He doesn't mean to misbehave; he just doesn't know better.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misbehave in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense act in an inappropriate manner:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | mal se conduire |
| German | Fehlverhalten, schlechtes Benehmen |
| Spanish | portarse mal, comportarse mal, extremarse la nota, guito |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does misbehave come from?
From Middle English misbehaven, equivalent to mis- + behave.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).