Chinese word

误解

Pronunciation

Pinyinwù jiě

Meaning

  • verbmisunderstand

Example

别误解我的意思。bié wù jiě wǒ de yì si

Don't misunderstand what I mean.

Illustration for 误解 (misunderstand)

More examples

他的批评常被误解成攻击。tā de pī píng cháng bèi wù jiě chéng gōng jī

His criticism is often mistaken for an attack.

Core concept

The meaning attached to something drifts away from what was intended.

Common phrases

  • 被人误解bèi rén wù jiě

    be misunderstood

  • 误解成wù jiě chéng

    mistake for

Similar words

误会wù huì: To form a wrong idea from someone's words or behavior.
曲解qū jiě: To twist the meaning of an expression when interpreting it.

Definition in Chinese

把事情或他人的意思理解错，也可作为名词使用，表示存在理解上的错误。bǎ shì qíng huò tā rén de yì si lí jiě cuò yě kě zuò wéi míng cí shǐ yòng biǎo shì cún zài lí jiě shàng de cuò wù

Word origin

误 (wù, "wrong") + 解 (jiě, "understand") joins an error with the act of making sense of something, yielding an interpretation that misses its intended meaning.

Usage tips

  • The construction 被误解 (bèi wùjiě, "be misunderstood") marks the speaker, message, or intention as the one affected, which helps clarify who received the wrong meaning.

Other meanings

  • misinterpretationnoun
  • misunderstandingnoun

Opposites

Word lists with this word