mislead
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to give false or misleading information to
-
to lead or guide in the wrong direction
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
misleadsimple
-
misleadssimple
-
have misledperfect
-
has misledperfect
-
am misleadingprogressive
-
are misleadingprogressive
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is misleadingprogressive
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have been misleadingperfect progressive
-
has been misleadingperfect progressive
Past
-
misledsimple
-
had misledperfect
-
was misleadingprogressive
-
were misleadingprogressive
-
had been misleadingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of mislead
before 1050; Middle English misleden, Old English mislǣdan. See mis- 1, lead 1
Explanation
Use the verb mislead to describe what you're doing when you don't tell the whole truth, or when you let someone believe something false. You mislead someone when you point them in the wrong direction, literally or metaphorically. If you let your cousin think an expensive gift is from you when you actually just sent her a card, you are misleading her. And if you give a tourist directions away from the chain restaurant he's looking for, you are misleading him. Finally, if you think this doesn't really count as lying, you're misleading yourself.
Vocabulary lists containing mislead
Fake It 'Til You Make It: Synonyms for "False"
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mis-
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mis-
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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.
But if that’s the case, why would a grown man feel the need to mislead a bunch of kids about how fast and strong and good at climbing it he is?
From Slate • Jun. 24, 2026
A model can be technically correct and still mislead.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 22, 2026
"Without this, we mislead decision makers and potentially lose public trust in our ability to tackle climate change."
From Science Daily • Jun. 18, 2026
Enormous efforts were made to mislead the Germans about what was coming.
From Los Angeles Times • May 29, 2026
Occasionally, focussing on a linguistic alteration can mislead us into thinking that something important has happened when it hasn’t, or that something happened at a particular moment when it actually happened earlier.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
