mislead
Americanverb (used with object)
-
misleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misled,
past participle, past
-
misleading
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
misleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misled,
past participle, past
-
misleading
present participle
verb
-
to give false or misleading information to
-
to lead or guide in the wrong direction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misleadsimple
-
misleadssimple
-
have misledperfect
-
has misledperfect
-
am misleadingprogressive
-
are misleadingprogressive
-
is misleadingprogressive
-
have been misleadingperfect progressive
-
has been misleadingperfect progressive
Past
-
misledsimple
-
had misledperfect
-
was misleadingprogressive
-
were misleadingprogressive
-
had been misleadingperfect progressive
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.
See Examples For:
The technology might still eliminate jobs, manipulate or mislead users, or automate away forms of expression that used to be exclusively human.
From Slate ● Sep. 9, 2026
“The passage of Senate Bill 1159 is an important step to clarify the law and discourage the use of emerging technologies to falsify public records and mislead regulators in California,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 28, 2026
Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, accusing it of using outdated studies to mislead consumers about the comparative weight-loss effectiveness of its GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound against Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"If fabricated studies make their way into the evidence base, they can mislead real scientists and ultimately slow progress for patients. That's why it's vital we get ahead of this problem."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
The man said, “Did I mislead you? Did I not tell you you’d be amazed? But, oh, ye of little faith, the story is not even half told!”
From "Elijah of Buxton" by Christopher Paul Curtis
Aronowitz has called the increased litigation a “con game” that misleads judges, argued that such cases should go before a specialized court and labeled the whole enterprise a “scam.”
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
A California judge ruled that the infamous Kars4Kids jingle misleads donors.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
One major reason is fraud, where one party intentionally misleads the other before the agreement is signed, causing the other party to enter the contract based on false information.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
The Council of Science Editors’ recommendations on publication ethics say ghost authorship is “ethically unacceptable” because it misleads readers about potential conflicts of interest.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 13, 2026
Ignis-fatuus, ig′nis-fat′ū-us, n. a light which misleads travellers, often seen over marshy places, also called 'Will-o'-the-Wisp:'—pl.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various
However, Panorama has uncovered new evidence suggesting the court was misled, in a joint investigation with the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, external.
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2026
Those cases generally focus on businesses that misled consumers about important aspects of how their products work or how they charge fees.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
A trial had been set to begin Monday in the southern US state over claims by Alabama that TikTok misled parents about tools meant to shield children from harmful content.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
People who bought certain iPhone models can start submitting claims to get paid as part of a $250-million settlement resolving legal claims that Apple misled consumers about the capabilities of its artificial-intelligence-powered features.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 22, 2026
“How long you think it take if someone tells you you can’t vote before it spreads?” asked one man who was misled.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Semisch wishes that May had fact-checked some of the misleading claims by the right, but she praises the series’ subtlety.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
As artificial intelligence becomes more advanced, reports of AI systems misleading users, working together, or appearing to pursue independent goals are becoming increasingly common.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
A firm’s net IRR can be a misleading metric because it often represents a paper figure based on the firm’s own valuations rather than actual cash in hand.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 13, 2026
The metric, which tech startups commonly use to signal their growth trajectory, is sometimes criticized as imprecise or even misleading, since it typically extrapolates a single month's sales across a full year.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Otherwise, it would be a merciless and, indeed, a heinous action, as it would entail ruining a reputation and misleading a community.
From "Saints and Misfits" by S.K. Ali
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
