misguided

adjective

mis·​guid·​ed (ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd How to pronounce misguided (audio)
: led or prompted by wrong or inappropriate motives or ideals
well-meaning but misguided do-gooders
misguidedly adverb
misguidedness noun

Examples of misguided in a Sentence

She's been getting a lot of bad advice from misguided friends. He blames the crisis on the government's misguided economic policies. a misguided attempt to help
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Released in 1982, the dark satire stars Robert De Niro as a desperate aspiring comedian who kidnaps a talk-show host in a misguided attempt at fame. Lydia Patrick, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Nov. 2025 In truth, there were many factors behind the fall of the Soviet Union — Ronald Reagan’s Star Wars program and other geopolitical provocations, the drop in oil prices, drastic leadership mistakes like the war in Afghanistan, a misguided alcohol policy, and [Mikhail] Gorbachev’s reforms. Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 8 Nov. 2025 Calling everything worthless is a misguided attempt to dam the flood rather than channel it. Deni Ellis Béchard, Scientific American, 8 Nov. 2025 This power grab and installed gerrymandering fix was a misguided attempt to make two wrongs a right. U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 7 Nov. 2025 See All Example Sentences for misguided

Word History

First Known Use

1500, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of misguided was in 1500

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Cite this Entry

“Misguided.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misguided. Accessed 14 Nov. 2025.

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