misguided

American  

[mis-gahy-did] / mɪsˈgaɪ dɪd /

adjective

1. misled; mistaken.

   Their naive actions were a misguided attempt to help poor people.

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misguided British  

/ ˌmɪsˈɡaɪdɪd /

adjective

1. foolish or unreasonable, esp in action or behaviour

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Other Word Forms

• misguidedly adverb
• misguidedness noun
• unmisguided adjective
• unmisguidedly adverb

Etymology

Origin of misguided

First recorded in 1480–90; misguide + -ed ²

Example Sentences

While Mr. Stubb does not excuse Moscow’s brutal war of aggression against Ukraine, some Russians in his book do come across as misguided and brutal but genuine in their opposition to a Western system.

From The Wall Street Journal

Shaw has once again chosen to latch on to Third Point’s dangerously misguided effort to have CoStar Group abandon Homes.com.”

From The Wall Street Journal

“In the face of a mounting homelessness crisis, it’s misguided for the City to continue pouring our scarce resources into outside counsel instead of housing the most vulnerable Angelenos,” Rodriguez said in a statement.

From Los Angeles Times

Policymakers’ responses to these realities are misguided on all major fronts.

From Barron's

About that — let’s get into his misguided declaration of love at the end of Part I. You read the books, you knew it was coming.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• confused
• erroneous
• foolish
• misplaced
• mistaken
• unreasonable
• unwarranted
• unwise