mislead
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to give false or misleading information to
-
to lead or guide in the wrong direction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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has misledperfect 3rd person singular
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have misledperfect
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are misleadingprogressive
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has been misleadingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am misleadingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been misleadingperfect progressive
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misleadssingular 3rd person
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is misleadingprogressive 3rd person singular
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misleadingparticiple
Past
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had misledperfect
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had been misleadingperfect progressive
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was misleadingprogressive singular
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were misleadingprogressive plural
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misledsimple
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misledparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of mislead
before 1050; Middle English misleden, Old English mislǣdan. See mis- 1, lead 1
Explanation
Use the verb mislead to describe what you're doing when you don't tell the whole truth, or when you let someone believe something false. You mislead someone when you point them in the wrong direction, literally or metaphorically. If you let your cousin think an expensive gift is from you when you actually just sent her a card, you are misleading her. And if you give a tourist directions away from the chain restaurant he's looking for, you are misleading him. Finally, if you think this doesn't really count as lying, you're misleading yourself.
Vocabulary lists containing mislead
Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Get your science news at our website, www.scientificamerican.com, where you can check out the excerpt from Ben Goldacre’s new book Bad Pharma: How Drug Companies Mislead Doctors and Harm Patients.
From Scientific American • Feb. 14, 2013
Be steadfast, mighty queen; let no emotion Of seeming laudable humanity Mislead thee; take not from thyself the power Of acting as necessity commands.
From Mary Stuart by Schiller, Friedrich
How long, deluding phantom, wilt thou blind, Mislead, debase, unhumanize mankind?
From The Columbiad by Barlow, Joel
His guideless youth, if thy experienced age Mislead fallacious into idle rage, Vengeance deserved thy malice shall repress.
From The Odyssey by Pope, Alexander
A fairy, in another passage, asks Robin: “Are you not he That frights the maidens of the villagery, ***** Mislead night-wanderers, laughing at their harm?”
From Folk-lore of Shakespeare by Thiselton-Dyer, Thomas Firminger
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
