misplace

misplace, mislay both mean to put in the wrong place and both in their basic use imply that the thing in question is as unavailable as if lost though firmly believed to be still in one's possession.

Misplace basically implies a putting of a thing in another than its proper or customary location

{

misplace a book

}

{

invoices continually being forgot or misplaced— Terry Southern

}

but it more often suggests a setting or fixing of something where it should not be

{

my confidence in him was misplaced

}

{

she is suffering from misplaced affections

}

{

the globe and scepter in such hands misplaced— Cowper

}

Mislay usually implies a misplacing in the basic sense but stresses a forgetfulness of the place in which the thing has been put; it therefore often means to lose through misplacing

{

mislaid her glasses in the excitement over the fire

}

{

mislay an umbrella

}

In its extended use it differs little from lose

{

almost inevitably some of the literary qualities of Darkness at Noon have been mislaid in the process of bringing it to the stage— J.M. Brown

}

Analogous words: displace (see REPLACE): derange, disarrange, *disorder