misdirect

American

[mis-di-rekt] / ˌmɪs dɪˈrɛkt /

verb (used with object)

to direct or address wrongly or incorrectly.

to misdirect a person; to misdirect a letter.

misdirect British

/ ˌmɪsdɪˈrɛkt /

verb

to give (a person) wrong directions or instructions
to address (a letter, parcel, etc) wrongly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

misdirection noun

Etymology

Origin of misdirect

First recorded in 1595–1605; mis- ¹ + direct

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.

Suspecting Al-Nourji of trying to misdirect them, the police held him for questioning.

From Los Angeles Times

Deliberately misdirecting a call would not be an infraction, it would be grounds for dismissal.

From Literature

If AI was used, he argued that the key question is "how old was the data" used for the targeting, and whether the misdirected strike stemmed from "a database error".

From Barron's

Statistically, it’s unlikely for one person to get so many misdirected texts.

From Literature

By the time couples notice, the pressure is already there, and it often gets misdirected at each other.

From MarketWatch

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023