Misspeak

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To utter something incorrectly or unintentionally say the wrong words; to make a verbal mistake while speaking; to express oneself inaccurately or imprecisely
2. To speak in error or choose incorrect words inadvertently; to commit a slip of the tongue; to deliver spoken information inaccurately or mistakenly
3. To accidentally use improper language or misstate facts while talking; to err verbally by misarticulating or mixing words; to provide unintended or flawed verbal communication

Etymology: Old English speakers already had a verb that meant something close to "to murmur," and it was built from the prefix "mis-" ("wrongly") and the ordinary verb "speak." The Middle English form "misspeken" carried the same sense of saying something amiss, and the modern word has kept that core meaning almost unchanged for centuries. What makes the history easy to follow is how transparent the parts are. "Mis-" comes from the same Old English root that gives us "miss" and "mistake," and it has always meant wrong or faulty. Adding it to "speak" produces a verb for uttering the wrong words, which is exactly what the word means today. Nothing in its path has been forced into a new sense, so the word is a straightforward compound rather than a surprise.

Synonyms: mispronounce, misstate, slip, blunder, botch

Antonyms: pronounce correctly, articulate, enunciate