mistakenoun [ C ]
uk/mɪˈsteɪk/us/mɪˈsteɪk/A2 an action, decision, or judgment that produces an unwanted or unintentional result:
I'm not blaming you - we all make mistakes.
[ + to infinitive ] It was a mistake for us to come here tonight.
This letter's full of spelling mistakes.
I've discovered a few mistakes in your calculations.
Why am I under arrest? There must be some mistake.
by mistake
B1 by accident:
I've paid this bill twice by mistake.
More examples
- She admitted that she had made a mistake.
- Sooner or later she's going to realize what a mistake she's made.
- There seems to have been a mistake - my name isn't on the list.
- If you draw or write in pencil you can always rub out your mistakes with an eraser.
- I have an apology to make to you - I'm afraid I opened your letter by mistake.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Faults and mistakes
- a blot on sb's character idiom
- aberration
- Achilles heel
- adrift
- black mark
- chink
- clinker
- creep in/creep into sth
- errata
- erratum
- error
- failing
- false alarm
- false move
- irregularity
- lapse
- loophole
- misprint
- misspell
- mistaken
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Idiom(s)
and no mistake
make no mistake (about it)
mistakeverb [ T ]
uk/mɪˈsteɪk/us/mɪˈsteɪk/mistook, mistakento be wrong about or to fail to recognize something or someone:
You can't mistake their house - it has a bright yellow front door.
formal I mistook your signature and thought the letter was from someone else.
Thesaurus: synonyms and related words
Making mistakes
- balls
- balls (sth) up
- blunder
- bodge
- botch
- drop
- famous
- famous last words idiom
- goof
- making
- misdirect
- put
- slip up
- speak/talk out of turn idiom
- to err is human (to forgive divine). idiom
- trip
- trip (sb) up
- turn
- unforced
- wrong
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mistakable
adjective UK also mistakeable uk/mɪˈsteɪ.kə.bəl/us/mɪˈsteɪ.kə.bəl/
She's easily mistakeable for a man when she wears that suit and hat.
Idiom(s)
be no mistaking sth
Phrasal verb(s)
mistake sb/sth for sb/sth