misdirect

verb

mis·​di·​rect ˌmis-də-ˈrekt 

-(ˌ)dī-

misdirected; misdirecting; misdirects

transitive verb

1

: to give a wrong direction to

2

: to direct wrongly

misdirected their energies

Examples of misdirect in a Sentence

Their mail was misdirected to our address.

If he tells you he's not interested, he's trying to misdirect you.

Recent Examples on the Web

But Messi misdirected his kick, lofting the ball gently to the right of Kristijan Kahlina, who was already moving in that direction and was able to tip the ball into the air and then catch it. —The Athletic Staff, New York Times, 14 Sep. 2025

And those who have experienced the death of a family member might recognize the Fisher boys’ misdirected grief after losing their mother to breast cancer. —Greta Rainbow, The Atlantic, 10 Sep. 2025

The criticism was sharp, loud, and misdirected. —Naz Beheshti, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025

Allen has laid out a multimillion-dollar proposal to wean New College off taxpayer dollars over the next decade, arguing that the surge of state funding that fueled the school’s conservative makeover has been misdirected and cannot be relied on to last. —Alice Herman, Miami Herald, 6 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1603, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for misdirect

• architect
• circumspect
• deselect
• dialect
• disconnect
• disinfect
• disrespect
• incorrect
• indirect
• intellect
• interject
• intersect

Kids Definition

misdirect

verb

mis·​di·​rect ˌmis-də-ˈrekt 

-(ˌ)dī-

: to direct incorrectly

misdirection

-ˈrek-shən

noun