verb
- to incorrectly assign or credit something to the wrong source, author, or cause
Examples
- The famous quote was misattributed to Einstein for decades.
- Historians often misattribute ancient texts to the wrong authors.
- Don’t misattribute your success solely to luck.
- The painting was misattributed to Picasso until experts examined it closely.
- Students frequently misattribute their poor grades to unfair teachers.
- The journalist misattributed the statement to the wrong politician.
- Researchers must be careful not to misattribute correlation to causation.