misunderstood vs proverbial

misunderstood

adj
  • Not comprehended correctly. 

  • Unfairly disliked as a result of prejudice, slander, or hasty assumptions. 

proverbial

adj
  • Not used in a literal sense, but as the subject of a well-known metaphor. 

  • Of, resembling, or expressed as a proverb, cliché, fable, or fairy tale. 

  • Widely known; famous; stereotypical. 

noun
  • Used to replace a word that might be considered unacceptable in a particular situation, when using a well-known phrase. 

  • The groin or the testicles. 

How often have the words misunderstood and proverbial occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )