misnomer
mis·nom·er/ˌmɪsˈnoʊməɹ/noun, verb
misnomer is spelled M-I-S-N-O-M-E-R: 8 letters and 3 syllables (mis·nom·er). It appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, misnomer means “A mistake in the naming of a person or place; a misidentification” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of misnomer is misnomers.
How many letters and syllables are in misnomer?
| Letters | 8: M-I-S-N-O-M-E-R |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: mis·nom·er |
| In writing | about once in every 2 million words; the 40,267th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
| Rhymes with |
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); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How common is misnomer?
Misnomer appears about once in every 2 million words in written English, the 40,267th 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 misnomer?
- UK /(ˌ)mɪsˈnəʊmə/
- US /ˌmɪsˈnoʊməɹ/
Misnomer has 3 syllables, split mis·nom·er in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-misnomer.ogg, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-misnomer.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with misnomer?
2 words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as misnomer from its last stressed vowel (/oʊməɹ/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of misnomer
- misnomers plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- misnomering participle, present
- misnomered participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misnomer mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A mistake in the naming of a person or place; a misidentification.
- 2
An incorrect use of a term, especially one which is misleading; a misname.
- 3
A term which is misleading, even if firmly established, technically correct, or both.
The name Chinese checkers is a misnomer since the game has nothing to do with China.
- 4
nonstandardproscribedSomething which is asserted not to be true; a mistaken belief, a falsehood, a myth.
It’s a misnomer that all doctors have bad handwriting.
verb
- 1
To use an incorrect, and especially misleading, name for (someone or something); to misidentify, to misname.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misnomer in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense incorrect use of a term, especially one which is misleading:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Falschbezeichnung, Fehlbenennung, Fehlbezeichnung, irreführende Bezeichnung, Namensirrtum, unpassende Bezeichnung |
| Spanish | mala designación/denominación, mal descriptor |
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 misnomer come from?
The noun is derived from Late Middle English misnoumer (“(law) mistaken identification of a person; plea based on such misidentification”), from Anglo-Norman mesnomer, a noun use of Anglo-Norman mesnomer, mesnommer, and Old French mesnomer, mesnommer (“to name incorrectly”), from mes- (prefix meaning ‘badly, wrongly’) + nomer, nommer (“to name”) (from Latin nōmināre, the present active infinitive of nōminō (“to name”), from nōmen (“name”) (from Proto-Indo-European *h₁nómn̥ (“name”)) + -ō (suffix forming regular first-conjugation verbs)). The verb is derived from the noun.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).