misconstrue

[ mis-kuhn-stroo or, esp. British, mis-kon-stroo ]

/ ˌmɪs kənˈstru or, esp. British, mɪsˈkɒn stru /

to misunderstand the meaning of; take in a wrong sense; misinterpret.

Origin of misconstrue

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at mis-¹, construe

misread, misapprehend, misjudge.

Surely, an unreconstructed snob could misconstrue much more.

This Week’s Hot Reads: July 8, 2013 |Mythili Rao |July 8, 2013 |DAILY BEAST
"After the Mark Sanford thing, I didn't want anybody to misconstrue [my vacation]," Flake said.

D.C.'s New Beefcake |Maureen O'Connor |October 14, 2009 |DAILY BEAST
He might misconstrue my motive—oh, you understand, don't you?

The Pride of Palomar |Peter B. Kyne
I did not think for a second how you might misconstrue my behaviour, although––although I could see it all afterwards.

The Spoilers of the Valley |Robert Watson

There might be something more terrible than the defeat: to misconstrue or to forget its causes.

History of the Commune of 1871 |P. Lissagary
If they misconstrued Mary's motive, let us beware lest we misconstrue theirs.

The Quiver, 2/1900 |Various
And this fact, with his personal enthusiasm for certain Greek plays, leads the reader of the Aesthetik to misconstrue him.

Oxford Lectures on Poetry |Andrew Cecil Bradley

misconstrue

/ (ˌmɪskənˈstruː) /

(tr) to interpret mistakenly