misgesture

English

Etymology

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /mɪsˈd͡ʒɛst͡ʃə(ɹ)/, /mɪsˈd͡ʒɛstjʊə(r)/

Verb

misgesture (third-person singular simple present misgestures, present participle misgesturing, simple past and past participle misgestured)

To make the wrong gesture.
- 1621, Joseph Hall, Meditations and Vowes Divine and Morall, page 824:
  This flesh of ours is not a good feruant, vnlesse it helpe vs in the best offices: The God of Spirits doth most respect the soule of our deuotion; yet, it is both vnmannerly and irreligious, to be misgestured in our Prayers.
- 2008, John Clement, Creative Model Construction in Scientists and Students, page 195:
  He emphasizes as evidence the fact that people sometimes misspeak with a correct gesture, but very rarely misgesture with correct speech.
- 2014, Jill H. Rathus, Alec L. Miller, DBT® Skills Manual for Adolescents, page 117:
  Anyone who misspeaks or misgestures, while trying to maintain a reasonably fast pace, is out of this portion of the exercise.
- 2015, Ian Bogost, The Geek's Chihuahua: Living with Apple:
  Touch here? Stroke there? Stop here? Do it again? The impressive fragility of the device only reinforces this sense — to do it wrong by dropping or misgesturing might lead to unknown consequences.

Noun

misgesture (plural misgestures)

A gesture that is made in error.
- 1977, Mohammed Mughisuddin, Conflict and Cooperation in the Persian Gulf, page 52:
  From Faisal's perspective, a more dramatic “misgesture” on the part of the Americans was needed before the oil weapon would be employed.
- 2013, Steve Erickson, Tours of the Black Clock:
  He understood that if she was as bad as the instructors and professors on the committee claimed, then there were a hundred misturns, missteps and misgestures she would have made that she did not.