Misestimate

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To calculate or judge the value, amount, or size of something inaccurately or wrongly
2. To make a mistaken or incorrect assessment of quantity, value, or extent
3. To err in evaluating or guessing the measure or amount of something

Etymology: "Misestimate" is a plain formation: the prefix "mis-", meaning wrongly or badly, attached to "estimate". The prefix comes from Old English, where it expressed error or wrongdoing, and it has been productive in English for centuries, producing words like "misjudge", "mislead" and "misunderstand". Because "estimate" was already a settled word meaning a rough calculation or judgement of value, size or amount, adding "mis-" simply reverses the sense into an error of that judgement. The base "estimate" itself comes from Latin "aestimare", meaning to value or set a price on something, and it passed into English as a noun and verb with that commercial sense. The verb "misestimate" therefore carries the original idea of valuing something, now with the outcome that the value was set wrongly.

Synonyms: miscalculate, misjudge, overestimate, underestimate, misapprehend

Antonyms: correct, accurate, assess, evaluate, apprehend