i Register
In some senses, misstep is marked as figuratively. Watch for register when choosing this word.
misstep
/ˈmɪs.stɛp/
noun 2verb 2
Collocations
4ADJ.
fatal, high, offending, slightest
VERB + MISSTEP
avoid, comment, don't, want
MISSTEP + NOUN
things
ADV.
often
Definitions
noun
1
A step that is wrong, a false step.
On a high ledge, a misstep could be fatal.
[…] 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
An error or mistake.
His comment was a misstep that could cost him dearly.
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.
verb
1
To step badly or incorrectly.
My dance partner misstepped and landed on my toe.
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
To make an error or mistake.
I don't want to misstep by offending them.
Thesaurus
Idioms & Phrases
Example Bank
601
On a high ledge, a misstep could be fatal.
Wiktionary02
[…] 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.
Wiktionary03
His comment was a misstep that could cost him dearly.
Wiktionary04
My dance partner misstepped and landed on my toe.
Wiktionary05
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.
Wiktionary06
I don't want to misstep by offending them.
WiktionaryUsage Notes
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