mispronoun

English

Etymology

From mis- +‎ pronoun.

Verb

mispronoun (third-person singular simple present mispronouns, present participle mispronouning, simple past and past participle mispronouned)

1. (transitive) To refer to (someone) using third-person pronouns other than their preferred gender pronouns, either unknowingly or intentionally.

   Synonym: misgender

   • 2014, Holiday Simmons, Fresh! White, “Our Many Selves”, in Laura Erickson-Schroth, editor, Trans Bodies, Trans Selves: A Resource for the Transgender Community, Oxford: Oxford University Press, →ISBN, page 17:

     At times, people mispronoun us, calling us by incorrect pronouns, or misgender us, assuming incorrect genders. Mispronouning and misgendering can be intentional or unintentional.

   • 2017, Rachel McKinnon, “Allies Behaving Badly: Gaslighting as epistemic injustice”, in Ian James Kidd, José Medina, Gaile Pohlhaus, Jr., editors, The Routledge Handbook of Epistemic Injustice, page 171:

     If Victoria doesn't feel that she can sufficiently trust Susan to help her out when James, for example, mispronouns her, then Victoria may simply cease to eat lunch with her colleagues.

   • 2019, C. J. Venable, Kyle Inselman, Nick Thout, “Negotiating Fit While 'Misfit': Three Ways Trans Professionals Navigate Student Affairs”, in Brian J. Reece, Vu T. Tran, Elliott N. DeVore, Gabby Porcaro, editors, Debunking the Myth of Job Fit in Higher Education and Student Affairs, unnumbered page:

     When trans people are forced to correct others after being mispronouned, they are reminding those they correct that their assumptions regarding both the individual in question and the larger system of gender are wrong.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:mispronoun.