misdeed
mis·deed/mɪsˈdiːd/noun
misdeed is spelled M-I-S-D-E-E-D: 7 letters and 2 syllables (mis·deed). It appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 105,204th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, misdeed means “That which was done that should not have been, ranging from any sin or moral offense to various degrees of crime” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of misdeed is misdeeds.
How many letters and syllables are in misdeed?
| Letters | 7: M-I-S-D-E-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: mis·deed |
| In writing | about once in every 12 million words; the 105,204th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is misdeed?
Misdeed appears about once in every 12 million words in written English, the 105,204th 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 misdeed?
- /mɪsˈdiːd/
Misdeed has 2 syllables, split mis·deed in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Wodencafe-misdeed.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of misdeed
- misdeeds plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misdeed mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
That which was done that should not have been, ranging from any sin or moral offense to various degrees of crime.
The petty misdeeds of his youth came back to haunt him when he ran for political office and his character was smeared.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misdeed in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense something wrong done:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | méfait |
| German | Missetat |
| Portuguese | malfeitoria |
| Spanish | fechoría, malhecho, malfecho (disused) |
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 misdeed come from?
From Middle English misdede, from Old English misdǣd (“misdeed”), from Proto-West Germanic *missadādi, from Proto-Germanic *missadēdiz (“misdeed”); equivalent to mis- + deed. Cognate with Scots misded (“misdeed”), West Frisian misdied (“misdeed”), Dutch misdaad (“misdeed”), German Missetat (“misdeed”), Swedish missdåd (“misdeed”), Gothic 𐌼𐌹𐍃𐍃𐌰𐌳𐌴𐌸𐍃 (missadēþs, “misdeed”).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).