misformulate
|mis-for-mu-late|
🇺🇸
/mɪsˈfɔrmjəˌleɪt/
🇬🇧
/mɪsˈfɔːmjʊleɪt/
express or formulate wrongly
Etymology
'misformulate' originates from English, specifically formed from the prefix 'mis-' (Old English 'mis-', meaning 'wrong' or 'badly') combined with 'formulate' (from Latin 'formulatus', past participle of 'formulare').
'formulate' entered English from Late Latin 'formulatus' (from 'formula') via French and Medieval Latin; the modern compound 'misformulate' was created in English by adding the productive negative prefix 'mis-' to 'formulate'.
Initially, the root 'formulate' meant 'to put into a formula or orderly form'; with the prefix 'mis-' the compound came to mean 'to put into form incorrectly' or more broadly 'to express wrongly'.
Meanings by Part of Speech
Noun 1
an incorrect or badly constructed formulation or expression (often of a question, hypothesis, or policy).
The misformulation of the hypothesis required the researchers to redesign the study.
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Antonyms
Verb 1
to formulate or express something incorrectly; to state, devise, or construct (an idea, argument, question, etc.) in a wrong or inappropriate way.
The committee misformulated the survey question, which led to misleading responses.
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Last updated: 2025/08/16 01:04