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 In the years since the murder, Madison was misled about how her father really died. Liam Quinn, Peoplemag, 6 Mar. 2024 Such claims mislead customers and insult the Ukrainians who sacrifice their essential lives to defend freedom for all. Bennett Freeman, Fortune, 4 Mar. 2024 Government records have helped expose the role of drug companies in the opioid crisis and showed how U.S. officials misled the public about the war in Afghanistan. Emily Joynton, Washington Post, 2 Mar. 2024 My mom and my dad. — and misled the initial investigators. Natalie Morales, CBS News, 2 Mar. 2024 Her last article investigated the case of a U.S. Marine who used misleading information to adopt a baby girl orphaned in Afghanistan. Rozina Ali, New York Times, 28 Feb. 2024 California voters have long been misled by dishonest descriptions of general tax measures that are sold as a panacea to all manner of ills. Letters To The Editor, The Mercury News, 23 Feb. 2024 Almost a quarter of travelers, 23%, reported having been misled by third-party resellers, translating to 28.5 million hotel stays worth around $5.2 billion, the American Hotel and Lodging Association found in a 2018 survey, the latest data available. Vicky Nguyen, NBC News, 22 Feb. 2024 At a House hearing just last week, for instance, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) staged an attack on COVID vaccines consisting of misleading statistics presented out of context, unverified claims of side effects and flagrant misstatements about the consequences of COVID infection. Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Feb. 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 19 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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