Synonyms

mislead

American

[mis-leed] / mɪsˈlid /

verb (used with object)

misled, misleading

to lead or guide wrongly; lead astray.

Synonyms:

misdirect, misguide
to lead into error of conduct, thought, or judgment.

Synonyms:

deceive, delude

verb (used without object)

misled, misleading

to be misleading; tend to deceive.

vague directions that often mislead.

mislead British

/ mɪsˈliːd /

verb

to give false or misleading information to
to lead or guide in the wrong direction

"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

misleader noun
unmisled adjective

Etymology

Origin of mislead

before 1050; Middle English misleden, Old English mislǣdan. See mis- ¹, lead ¹

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.

In a post on Facebook, he wrote that watching the news had made him "concerned" but he also felt, "The news sometimes presents exaggerated or misleading information".

From BBC

It is also a misleading one—at least as most people understand the term.

From Barron's

“All I ever wanted was for you to get silly with me baby,” she sings about a relationship gone wrong, multi-tracking her vocals on the chorus to convey just how badly her feelings misled her.

From The Wall Street Journal

“Apparently league sources are continuing to put out false and misleading information instead of wanting to meet at the negotiating table,” Green said.

From Los Angeles Times

When we told Firdevs that these two families had felt misled, she told us the choice of the egg donors had been "made exclusively" by Miracle IVF Centre.

From BBC

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