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
They also cloud and misguide, often creating false — but powerful and entrenched — impressions that can outweigh more objective measures.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 21, 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
We are not to expect a tranquil absence of bias in the midst of military excitement, when very laudable sentiments are apt to misguide men in both directions.
From Alfred Tennyson by Lang, Andrew
Scientists have described the decision as "heartbreaking" and "scientifically misguided".
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
That doesn’t mean, however, that the gaming enthusiasts who’ve made such an uproar online are to be easily dismissed, or that they’re wrong about why this is a misguided business move in the long term.
From Slate ● Jul. 7, 2026
Now a new group of fail-sons takes center stage on Sunday nights: the misguided male youth of “Game of Thrones” spinoff “House of the Dragon.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
But it’s misguided when you consider the concessions made for Pride Nights.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 20, 2026
The detectives didn’t drink alcohol, but Arm said they had to encourage Mr. Thirsty’s kind impulses, however misguided.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
"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
“I mean, we don’t do modeling like that. This is misguiding people.”
From New York Times ● Sep. 14, 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
We all feel as if we have been entirely by-passed and badly misled and in so being have been misguiding those who have sought and heeded our advice.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2011
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.
