misdiagnose: meaning, definition, pronunciation and examples
C1Technical/Medical; formal when used figuratively
Quick answer
What does “misdiagnose” mean?
To identify a disease or condition incorrectly.
Audio
Pronunciation
Definition
Meaning and Definition
To identify a disease or condition incorrectly.
To wrongly assess or identify the nature of a problem, situation, or issue.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or usage between BrE and AmE. Spelling follows standard national conventions ('diagnose' + 's', not 'z').
Connotations
Strongly negative in both, implying professional failure with potentially serious consequences.
Frequency
More frequent in medical contexts globally. Figurative use is equally common in both varieties.
Grammar
How to Use “misdiagnose” in a Sentence
[S] + misdiagnose + [O] (e.g., The doctor misdiagnosed the rash.)[S] + misdiagnose + [O] + as + [C] (e.g., They misdiagnosed the tumour as benign.)Vocabulary
Collocations
Examples
Examples of “misdiagnose” in a Sentence
verb
British English
- The locum misdiagnosed the appendicitis as food poisoning.
- Many mental health conditions are misdiagnosed in primary care.
American English
- The ER doctor misdiagnosed the heart attack as severe heartburn.
- If you misdiagnose the system fault, you could cause more damage.
adverb
British English
- (Rarely used as an adverb; 'misdiagnosed' is typically adjective/verb participle).
American English
- (Rarely used as an adverb; 'misdiagnosed' is typically adjective/verb participle).
adjective
British English
- The misdiagnosed patient suffered needlessly for months.
- A misdiagnosed fracture can lead to chronic pain.
American English
- She filed a lawsuit over her misdiagnosed condition.
- The report analysed misdiagnosed engineering failures.
Usage
Meaning in Context
Business
Used figuratively: 'The consultant misdiagnosed the company's cash flow problem as a marketing issue.'
Academic
Used in medical literature, psychology, and case studies: 'The study found that GPs were likely to misdiagnose early-stage Lyme disease.'
Everyday
Limited to serious discussions of health: 'I'm seeking a second opinion because I think the first doctor misdiagnosed me.'
Technical
Core use in medicine: 'The scan revealed the aneurysm that had been misdiagnosed as simple migraines.'
Watch out
Common Mistakes When Using “misdiagnose”
- Incorrect: 'He was misdiagnosed with cancer.' (Implies he was *given* a wrong label) Correct: 'He was misdiagnosed as having cancer.' / 'His symptoms were misdiagnosed as cancer.'
- Confusing noun/verb: 'The misdiagnose was tragic.' (Incorrect, should be 'misdiagnosis').
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
No, while its primary and most common use is medical, it is also used figuratively in other fields (e.g., engineering, business, IT) to mean 'to incorrectly identify the root cause of a problem'.
The noun is 'misdiagnosis' (plural: misdiagnoses). Example: 'The misdiagnosis led to delayed treatment.'
'Misdiagnose' means to actively assign an incorrect diagnosis (e.g., calling pneumonia the flu). 'Miss a diagnosis' means to fail to identify any disease at all, often through oversight (e.g., not detecting a tumour on a scan).
It is almost always a transitive verb and requires an object (e.g., misdiagnose a patient/a condition/the problem). Intransitive use like 'The doctor misdiagnosed' is grammatically incomplete and uncommon.
To identify a disease or condition incorrectly.
Misdiagnose is usually technical/medical; formal when used figuratively in register.
Misdiagnose: in British English it is pronounced /ˌmɪsˈdaɪ.əɡ.nəʊz/, and in American English it is pronounced /ˌmɪsˈdaɪ.əɡ.noʊs/. Tap the audio buttons above to hear it.
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “A missed diagnosis (this is a related noun phrase, not an idiom for the verb).”
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: 'MISS' + 'DIAGNOSE'. You 'miss' the correct 'diagnosis'.
Conceptual Metaphor
DIAGNOSIS IS DECODING/INTERPRETATION. A misdiagnosis is a faulty decryption of the body's signals.
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence uses 'misdiagnose' correctly in a figurative sense?