mislead

verb

mis·​lead ˌmis-ˈlēd How to pronounce mislead (audio)
misled ˌmis-ˈled How to pronounce mislead (audio) ; misleading

transitive verb

: to lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief often by deliberate deceit
His comments were a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

intransitive verb

: to lead astray : give a wrong impression
exciting as they are, they misleadE. M. Forster
misleader noun
misleadingly adverb
Choose the Right Synonym for mislead

deceive, mislead, delude, beguile mean to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness.

deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness.

tried to deceive me about the cost

mislead implies a leading astray that may or may not be intentional.

I was misled by the confusing sign

delude implies deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth.

we were deluded into thinking we were safe

beguile stresses the use of charm and persuasion in deceiving.

was beguiled by false promises

Examples of mislead in a Sentence

We believe that her comments were deliberately meant to mislead the public. We believe that her comments were deliberately meant to mislead.
Recent Examples on the Web Tech companies deepened their relationships with government and law enforcement following revelations of Russian interference, sharing findings on how foreign operatives, terrorists and extremists were using the internet to mislead people. Ann Marimow, Washington Post, 17 Mar. 2024 Later that year, HP said it had been duped by Autonomy, misled by improprieties including the backdating of contracts and the use of hardware sales to bolster revenue, particularly at the end of a quarter. Michael J. De La Merced, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2024 Fast-food restaurants have all kinds of ways to mislead us. Leonard Greene, The Mercury News, 6 Mar. 2024 And some consumers have complained that they have been misled by shady contractors about final costs and payment methods. Alex Harris, Miami Herald, 4 Mar. 2024 The company believes that the app will tackle the issues caused by fake YRF casting accounts that mislead people about auditions and are a threat to its market reputation. Naman Ramachandran, Variety, 1 Mar. 2024 The story highlights the perils of misleading customers in the internet age, where customers are free to post their experiences online, and make an event go viral. Dani Di Placido, Forbes, 29 Feb. 2024 New York state Attorney General Letitia James sued beef producer JBS in state court for allegedly misleading the public about a pledge the company made to slash its climate pollution in the coming decade. Michael Copley, NPR, 29 Feb. 2024 In the years since the murder, Madison was misled about how her father really died. Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'mislead.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Time Traveler
The first known use of mislead was before the 12th century

Dictionary Entries Near mislead

Cite this Entry

“Mislead.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/mislead. Accessed 29 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

mislead

verb
mis·​lead (ˈ)mis-ˈlēd How to pronounce mislead (audio)
misled -ˈled How to pronounce mislead (audio) ; misleading
: to lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief
misleading adjective

Legal Definition

mislead

verb
mis·​lead mis-ˈlēd How to pronounce mislead (audio)
misled -ˈled How to pronounce mislead (audio) ; misleading

transitive verb

: to lead into a mistaken action or belief : to cause to have a false impression

intransitive verb

: to create a false impression compare deceive

More from Merriam-Webster on mislead

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