misguide
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of misguide
1325–75; mis- 1 + guide; replacing Middle English misgien; see guy 2
Explanation
When you misguide someone, you lead them the wrong way. You might accidentally misguide a tourist by instructing him to turn left when he should have gone right. Use the verb misguide when you point someone in the wrong direction, either literally or in a figurative way: "I didn't mean to misguide you when I promised you'd love camping in the desert." Giving bad advice is one way to misguide someone, and giving bad driving directions is another. In the fourteenth century, misguide meant "to go astray," rather than "to lead someone else astray."
Vocabulary lists containing misguide
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:
Further “speculation on any proposed rule prior to it being published,” he said, “only serves to misguide public discourse and stoke fear in those who rely on disability benefits for economic stability.”
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2025
As expectations about what these products should detect increase, so too do the opportunities to let them misguide us and cause us to punish or profile innocent people.
From Slate ● Dec. 11, 2023
“The agents guide the people, or misguide them, into going illegally,” Anil Pratham, director of the anti-human trafficking unit of the Gujarat police, said in a telephone interview.
From New York Times ● Mar. 14, 2022
Don’t let the instant success stories of the past decade misguide you.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 30, 2021
You, who have destroyed the way-marks to misguide others, now find yourself adrift because of your own act.
From The Lever A Novel by William Dana Orcutt
Peter Wittig, a former German ambassador to the U.S., believes such a radical step would be misguided.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
The war in Iraq was a tragically misguided venture that tested the Western alliance more than 20 years ago.
From Salon ● Sep. 17, 2026
Recent calls from artificial-intelligence leaders to slow the technology’s development have rippled through the stock market — and Wall Street’s early reactions may be misguided.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026
In a statement to the BBC, Amazon "strongly disagrees" with the premise that it misled advertisers and called the suit "misguided."
From BBC ● Aug. 31, 2026
Ben says most books have mainstream society’s misguided ideas about how a life should be lived written right into the fabric of their stories.
From "The Wrong Way Home" by Kate O’Shaughnessy
"We continue to do that and covering it up or misguiding the Environment Agency in any way is absolutely no part of that performance."
From BBC ● Dec. 4, 2023
Hamilton said: "It is unacceptable, cowardly and misguiding for those in power to suggest such a law."
From BBC ● Jul. 29, 2021
PSG players celebrated with enthusiasm in front of their fans but the exuberance was somewhat misplaced and also misguiding.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 19, 2016
Result: potentially terribly misguiding images of events going around the world.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2010
The misguided ideas of a misguided leader who in turn was misguiding his army and his people.
From "The Light in Hidden Places" by Sharon Cameron
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.
