Word Confusion: Midst vs Missed vs Mist

Posted June 9, 2022 by Kathy Davie in Author Resources, Self-Editing, Word Confusions, Writing

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It was midst the mist that I realized I missed him.

So sad, too bad. Sigh. And yes, I know you can see the word confusion of midst vs missed vs mist — it’s the latter two that are heterographs (a subset of homophone).

Isn’t it amazing how three such similar sounding words can be so different in meaning?

Midst is a more poetic way of saying in the middle of.

Missed is an adjective (infrequently used meaning difficult to understand) or the verb, which is all about failure or feeling regret or sadness.

Mist means a cloud of suspended tiny water droplets, whether it’s in the atmosphere, an exotic drink, an aerosol, or related to one’s emotions.

Word Confusions . . .

. . . started as my way of dealing with a professional frustration with properly spelled words that were out of context in manuscripts I was editing as well as books I was reviewing. It evolved into a sharing of information with y’all. I’m hoping you’ll share with us words that have been a bête noir for you from either end.

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Midst	Missed	Mist
US President George W. Bush Midst a Crowd of About 5,000, Division Hill, Fort Drum, New York, by Glenn Wagner, CIV, is in the public domain courtesy of The US National Archives, via NARA & DVIDS Public Domain Archive.	Chris Missed the Ferry is courtesy of VSPYCC and is under the CC BY 2.0 license, via Flickr.	Mist Over the Lake by Attila is in the public domain, via PxHere.
Part of Grammar:
Noun; Preposition Plural for noun: midsts	Past tense or past participle of miss Adjective; Verb, intransitive & transitive Third person present verb: misses Past tense or past participle: missed Gerund or present participle: missing	Noun; Verb, intransitive & transitive Plural for the noun and third person present verb: mists Past tense or past participle: misted Gerund or present participle: misting
Noun: [Usually the midst] The middle point, part, or stage The position of anything surrounded by other things or parts, or occurring in the middle of a period of time, course of action, etc. Preposition: [Archaic or literary] In the middle of	Adjective: Not caught with the senses or the mind Verb, intransitive: Fail to hit, reach, or come into contact with (something aimed at) Fail to catch (something thrown or dropped) [Of a woman] Fail to have (a monthly period) [Of an engine or motor vehicle] Undergo failure of ignition in one or more cylinders Verb, transitive: Fail to hit, reach, or come into contact with (something aimed at) Pass by without touching Chance not to hit Fail to catch (something thrown or dropped) Fail to notice, hear, or understand Fail to attend, participate in, or watch Be too late to catch (a passenger vehicle, etc.) Fail to see or have a meeting with (someone) Not be able to experience or fail to take advantage of (an opportunity or chance) Avoid Escape [Of a woman] Fail to have (a monthly period) Notice the loss or absence of Feel regret or sadness at no longer being able to enjoy the presence of Feel regret or sadness at no longer being able to go to, do, or have	Noun: A cloud of tiny water droplets suspended in the atmosphere at or near the earth’s surface that limits visibility (to a lesser extent than fog; strictly, with visibility remaining above 1 km (1,100 yards)) [In singular] A condensed vapor settling in fine droplets on a surface A cloud of particles resembling this [In singular] A haze or film over the eyes, especially caused by tears, and resulting in blurred vision Used in reference to something that blurs one’s perceptions or memory A suspension of a liquid in a gas A drink of liquor served over cracked ice A fine spray produced by a vaporizer to add moisture to the air for breathing Verb, intransitive: Cover or become covered with mist [Of a person’s eyes] Become covered with a film of tears causing blurred vision To rain in very fine drops [Usually used impersonally with it as the subject] Drizzle Verb, transitive: Cover or become covered with mist Spray (something, especially a plant) with a fine cloud of water droplets
Examples:
Noun: We arrived in the midst of a storm. He was a familiar face in the midst of the crowd. She stopped in the midst of the performance. To think there was a spy in our midst! Preposition: The summit of the mountain appeared midst the clouds. And midst them are those of Sydney Agricultural University whose Chardonnay is a premium wine in the market. One scenic palm stands alone midst the cry of gulls, pelicans, and boobies.	Adjective: His missed papers never were found. He died from a missed dose of medication. The missed recording data played an important part in the increased time to discover the problems infecting the project. Verb, intransitive: He was given two free throws, but missed both times. Callison tried for a catch and missed. I think I’m pregnant — this is the second time I’ve missed. The motor had missed and investigation found a cracked cylinder head. Verb, transitive: The laser-guided bomb missed its target. A piece of shrapnel missed him by inches. He missed the villa! And it’s right by the road. You missed it. Teachers were supposed to report those students who missed class today. We missed the train. “Potter’s been here this morning?” “You missed him.” We missed the chance to visit the breathtaking Dolomites. I drove in at 5 a.m., missed the traffic. How many periods have you missed? He hasn’t missed the money. She slipped away when she thought she wouldn’t be missed. She missed all her old friends. I missed France and I wish I could go back.	Noun: The peaks were shrouded in mist. A mist rose out of the river. She sprayed a mist of perfume onto her handkerchief. A breeze cooled the mist of perspiration that had dampened her temples. Ruth saw most of the scene through a mist of tears. Sardinia’s origins are lost in the mists of time. The aerosol sprayed a fine mist onto her face. A Vodka Mist is a mix of Grey Goose VX and best with lunch. Humidifiers with warm mist can provide temporary relief by adding necessary moisture to the air. Verb, intransitive: The glass was beginning to mist up. Her eyes misted at this heroic image. It was misting when they went out for lunch. It was torn at the top and Ben’s eyes misted over as he realized what it was. Verb, transitive: The windows were misted up with condensation. Don’t mist furry-leaved plants such as African violets. “It was pouring down and my car had misted up,” Christine said. With the air conditioning turned off, everything misted up badly.
Derivatives:
Preposition: amid, amidst	Abbreviation: MIS Adjective: missable	Abbreviation: mist. Adjective: mistier, mistiest, mistless, misty, misty-eyed Adverb: mistily Noun: mister, mistiness, undermist Verb, transitive: demist
Phrasal Verb
	missed out missed out someone missed out something missed someone out missed something out
History of the Word:
Late Middle English, from in middes meaning in the middle.	Old English missan is of Germanic origin and related to the Dutch and the German missen.	Old English is of Germanic origin from an Indo-European root shared by the Greek omikhlē meaning mist, fog.

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C’mon, get it out of your system, bitch, whine, moan . . . which words are your pet peeves? Also, please note that I try to be as accurate as I can, but mistakes happen or I miss something. Email me if you find errors, so I can fix them . . . and we’ll all benefit!

Satisfy your curiosity about other Word Confusions on its homepage or more generally explore the index of self-editing posts. You may also want to explore Book Layout & Formatting Ideas, Formatting Tips, Grammar Explanations, Linguistics, Publishing Tips, the Properly Punctuated, Writing Ideas and Resources, and Working Your Website.

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