WORD OF THE DAY: MISBEGOTTEN
adjective | miss-bih-GAH-tun
What It Means
Misbegotten describes things that are badly planned or thought out.
// They were sent on a misbegotten diplomatic mission that was sure to fail.
Examples of MISBEGOTTEN
“After some misbegotten albums and a run of singles that barely scraped the lower reaches of the chart, [Tony] Bennett split with the label in 1971.” — Chris Morris, Variety, 21 July 2023
Did You Know?
In the beginning, there was begietan, and begietan begot beyeten; then in the days of Middle English beyeten begot begeten. All of the Old English and Middle English ancestors above basically meant the same thing as the modern beget—that is, “to father” or “to produce as an effect or outgrowth.” That linguistic line, combined with the prefix mis- (meaning “wrongly” or “badly”), brought forth misbegotten. While the word has carried several meanings over the centuries, including “contemptible” (as in “a misbegotten scoundrel”), today it most often describes things—such as beliefs, projects, or adventures—that are poorly planned or thought out.
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
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