Misaim

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To direct a projectile or shot at a target and fail to hit it due to poor aim
2. To attempt to hit a specific point but to miss because the direction is wrong
3. To aim something in a way that it does not reach the intended target

Etymology: "Misaim" is a plain formation: the prefix "mis-", meaning wrongly or badly, attached to "aim." The prefix comes from Old English "mis-", a word of the same family as the German "miss-", and it carries the sense of error or failure. "Aim" itself has a longer road behind it, passing through Old French "aesmer" (to estimate or set a value on) from Latin "aestimare," to estimate, before its archery and gunnery sense of directing a missile took hold. Put together, "misaim" describes directing something toward a point and missing it. The verb follows the same pattern as "misjudge" or "misspell," where the prefix simply reverses the success of the base word. Because "aim" was already a well-used verb by the time English speakers needed a way to describe a wayward shot, the compound needed no special coinage: the prefix did the work.

Synonyms: misdirect, miss, misthrow, miscalculate

Antonyms: hit, aim, target