- (transitive) to play badly or wrongly in games or sports
- a wrong or unskilful play
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
mis•play /n. mɪsˈpleɪ, ˈmɪsˌpleɪ; v. mɪsˈpleɪ/USA pronunciation n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- Gamesa wrong or bad play in a sport:A few more misplays like that one and our team will be eliminated.
v.
- Gamesto play wrongly or badly: [~ + object]to misplay the last three balls.[no object]The team has been misplaying all day.
mis•play
(n. mis plā′, mis′plā′;v. mis plā′),USA pronunciation [Sports, Games.]
n.
v.t.
n.
- Sport, Gamesa wrong or bad play.
- Sport, Gamesa play prohibited by the rules.
v.t.
- Sport, Gamesto make an error or incorrect play on or with;
play wrongly:The catcher misplayed the ball, allowing the base runner to score. - Sport, Gamesto make a play on or with (a card, chess piece, etc.) prohibited by the rules.
- mis-1 + play 1865–70, American.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
misplay /ˌmɪsˈpleɪ/ vb
'misplay' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):