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

This confusion frequently leads to programs that are poorly scoped, misdirected, or ultimately ineffective. —Leonard Lee, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025

Scott then left Bruce's body in a location that was unknown at the time and misdirected the investigation into Bruce's disappearance by providing several false locations to authorities, the prosecutor's office said. —Aaron Valdez, Cincinnati Enquirer, 17 May 2025

To prevent this instinct from becoming overactive or misdirected, Kohanski said that owners should teach dogs a release cue to signal that the situation is safe. —Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 23 June 2025

Michelle De Ritter Eustis Threatening allies, coddling dictators President Donald Trump’s use of muscular diplomacy with our allies is misdirected. —Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 21 June 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