mislead
Americanverb (used with object)
-
misleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misled,
past participle, past
-
misleading
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
misleads,
present (3rd person singular)
-
misled,
past participle, past
-
misleading
present participle
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
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are misleadingprogressive
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is misleadingprogressive
-
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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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:
The change could mislead consumer, marketing and aviation experts said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
Novo Nordisk filed a lawsuit against Eli Lilly, accusing it of using outdated studies to mislead consumers about the comparative weight-loss effectiveness of its GLP-1 drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound against Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
"If fabricated studies make their way into the evidence base, they can mislead real scientists and ultimately slow progress for patients. That's why it's vital we get ahead of this problem."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026
“I mean, it rents fine—I don’t want to mislead you. But it certainly could have been better if we had a bigger great room.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
She hadn't intended to mislead, she hadn't acted out of malice.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
Aronowitz has called the increased litigation a “con game” that misleads judges, argued that such cases should go before a specialized court and labeled the whole enterprise a “scam.”
From Salon ● Jul. 9, 2026
One major reason is fraud, where one party intentionally misleads the other before the agreement is signed, causing the other party to enter the contract based on false information.
From MarketWatch ● May 20, 2026
Unions say the Freedom Foundation misleads workers by using union colors and logos to make the mail seem as if it is coming from the union itself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 28, 2025
"Attempting to classify foods as unhealthy simply because they are processed, or demonizing food by ignoring its full nutrient content, misleads consumers and exacerbates health disparities," Ms Gallo said in a statement.
From BBC ● Dec. 2, 2025
Leave I ask of the Creator, Seek an answer that misleads not.
From Kalevala, The Land of the Heroes, Volume Two by Elias Lönnrot
Pirro’s team blamed the Interior Department for the flub, saying it had misled prosecutors about the pool.
From Slate ● Aug. 4, 2026
It is possible that Hearn could request an investigation into whether the grand jury was misled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 3, 2026
"Recent reports indicate that the number of Batswana being misled into such arrangements is rising at an alarming rate," the international relations ministry said.
From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026
He told the court he had been misled by police.
From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026
“How long you think it take if someone tells you you can’t vote before it spreads?” asked one man who was misled.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
“The entity’s failure is not a prerequisite for there to be a crime in intentionally misleading conduct,” he said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026
Qatar "categorically denied" Iran's claims and said it was "surprised by these misleading statements".
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
In March, the jury found Meta violated the state's Unfair Practices Act by misleading consumers about the safety of its products for children.
From Barron's ● Aug. 7, 2026
At one point, Pirro accused Burgum of misleading Trump, one of the people said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Similarly it is misleading to think of the rocks as flowing in anything like the way we think of materials flowing on the surface.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
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.
