misfire
/ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/noun, verb
misfire is spelled M-I-S-F-I-R-E: 7 letters and 3 syllables. It appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, misfire means “An act of misfiring” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of misfire is misfires.
How many letters and syllables are in misfire?
| Letters | 7: M-I-S-F-I-R-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 54,808th 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 misfire?
Misfire appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 54,808th 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 misfire?
- /ˈmɪs.faɪ(ɹ)/
- US /ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/
As a verb (“To fail to discharge properly”): /mɪsˈfaɪ(ɹ)/, /ˈmɪs.faɪ.ɚ/.
Misfire 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: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-misfire.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-misfire2.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Words people confuse with misfire
Also written: miss fire.
Sources: English Wiktionary (homophones, alternative spellings).
Forms of misfire
- misfires plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- misfiring participle, present
- misfired participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misfire mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
An act of misfiring.
- 2
A failure.
verb
- 1
To fail to discharge properly.
- 2
To fail to ignite in the proper sequence.
- 3
To initiate an action potential without the proper stimulus.
- 4
To fail to achieve the anticipated result.
His practical joke misfired and he nearly burnt my left hand.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misfire in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Fehlzündung , fehlzünden , fehlschlagen |
| French | caler , s'enrayer |
| Spanish | encendido defectuoso, fallo de encendido |
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 misfire come from?
Either a univerbation of earlier miss fire, or the compound mis- + fire (or possibly a confluence of both).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).