misstep

See also: mis-step

English

Alternative forms

• mis-step

Etymology

Etymology tree

Proto-Indo-European *mey-?

Proto-Indo-European *meyth₂-der.

Proto-Germanic *missaz

Proto-Germanic *missa-

Proto-West Germanic *missa-

Old English mis-

Middle English mys-

English mis-

English step

English misstep

From mis- + step.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): (noun) /ˈmɪs.stɛp/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• IPA^(key): (verb) /mɪsˈstɛp/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: (verb) -ɛp

Noun

misstep (plural missteps)

1. A step that is wrong, a false step.

   On a high ledge, a misstep could be fatal.

   • 1912 January, Zane Grey, chapter 8, in Riders of the Purple Sage […], New York, N.Y.; London: Harper & Brothers Publishers, →OCLC:

     […] burdened as he was, he did not think of length or height or toil. He remembered only to avoid a misstep and to keep his direction.

2. (figurative) An error or mistake.

   His comment was a misstep that could cost him dearly.

   • 2019 May 19, Alex McLevy, “The final Game Of Thrones brings a pensive but simple meditation about stories (newbies)”, in The A.V. Club‎^[1], archived from the original on 22 May 2019:

     Plenty of past seasons’ events could look ill-conceived in the critical eye of Monday-morning quarterbacking, but previously, the show had earned the benefit of the doubt that missteps on the part of supposedly intelligent characters were a plausible lack of in-world foresight.

Synonyms

• (error): error, faux pas, mistake

Translations

step that is wrong

• Dutch: misstap (nl) m
• Finnish: harha-askel (fi)
• French: faux pas (fr) m
• German: Fehltritt (de) m
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πταῖσμα n (ptaîsma), σφάλμα n (sphálma)

• Portuguese: passo em falso m
• Romanian: pas greșit m, poticnire (ro) f
• Russian: оступи́ться (ru) (ostupítʹsja) (a verb, to stumble, to trip, no noun exists)
• Slovak: chyba f
• Spanish: paso en falso m

error or mistake

• Dutch: misstap (nl) m, faux pas (nl)
• Finnish: harha-askel (fi)
• French: faux pas (fr) m, bourde (fr) f
• German: Fehltritt (de) m
• Portuguese: passo em falso m
• Romanian: pas greșit m
• Russian: ло́жный шаг m (lóžnyj šag) (equivalent of the French "faux pas" but only used idiomatically), опло́шность (ru) f (oplóšnostʹ)
• Spanish: paso en falso m, desliz (es) m, tropiezo (es) m, marfilada f
• Swedish: felsteg (sv) n

Verb

misstep (third-person singular simple present missteps, present participle misstepping, simple past and past participle misstepped)

1. (intransitive) To step badly or incorrectly.

   My dance partner misstepped and landed on my toe.

   • 2012, Philip K Dick, Jonathan Lethem, Pamela Jackson, The Exegesis of Philip K Dick:

     Eckhart also speaks of this happening to a man who has misstepped (vertreten, as I recall); God, then, corrects the mis-swing of the man and brings him back to the Tao or Logos.

2. (intransitive) To make an error or mistake.

   I don't want to misstep by offending them.

Related terms

• overstep

Translations

to step badly or incorrectly

• Dutch: verstappen (nl), misstappen (nl)
• Finnish: astua harhaan
• French: faire un faux pas, trébucher (fr), (colloquial) s'emmêler les pinceaux (fr)
• German: einen Fehltritt machen
• Portuguese: pisar em falso

to make an error or mistake

• Dutch: blunderen (nl), een misstap begaan
• Finnish: erehtyä (fi), hairahtua (fi)
• French: faire un faux pas, faire une bourde, gaffer (fr)
• German: einen Fehltritt machen

Anagrams

• impests