mislead

verb

mis·​lead ˌmis-ˈlēd 

misled ˌmis-ˈled  ; 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 mislead.

—E. M. Forster

misleader noun

misleadingly

ˌmis-ˈlē-diŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms of mislead

• deceive
• fool
• trick

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

The 2025 Edelman Trust Barometer found seven in ten people believe government officials, journalists, and business leaders intentionally mislead the public. —Maia Niguel Hoskin, Forbes.com, 22 May 2026

The propaganda can range from outright lies to misleading framings of things that really did happen. —Quinta Jurecic, The Atlantic, 21 May 2026

Mailyan, 45, was convicted this week in federal court, accused of submitting more than $45 million in fraudulent Medicare claims for Botox injections and attempting to mislead investigators working on the case. —Grace Toohey, Los Angeles Times, 20 May 2026

City was charged by the league in February 2023 with more than 100 financial breaches, including providing misleading information about its sources of income. —ABC News, 19 May 2026

Word History

First Known Use

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

Rhymes for mislead

• accede
• agreed
• airspeed
• alkyd
• bindweed
• chickweed
• concede
• decreed
• duckweed
• exceed
• flaxseed
• impede

Kids Definition

mislead

verb

mis·​lead (ˈ)mis-ˈlēd 

misled -ˈled  ; misleading

: to lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief

misleading adjective

Legal Definition

mislead

verb

mis·​lead mis-ˈlēd 

misled -ˈled  ; 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