misguided

adjective

mis·​guid·​ed (ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd 

: led or prompted by wrong or inappropriate motives or ideals

well-meaning but misguided do-gooders

misguidedly

(ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd-lē 

adverb

misguidedness

(ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd-nəs 

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

In hindsight, the hope that the Cowboys could have a talented trio of Trevon Diggs, Shavon Revel and DaRon Bland was misguided, to say the least. —Joseph Hoyt, Dallas Morning News, 5 Jan. 2026

Some commentators said China could use the intervention in Venezuela as a template to invade Taiwan, but that analogy is misguided, a Brookings Institution scholar wrote. —J.d. Capelouto, semafor.com, 4 Jan. 2026

Those howls in the moors are literature fans fighting over whether this reimagining of Emily Brontë’s 1847 gothic romance will be confoundingly misguided or bodice-rippingly good. —Glenn Whipp, Los Angeles Times, 1 Jan. 2026

Counting on him to be one of your leading scorers is misguided. —Ira Winderman, Sun Sentinel, 1 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1500, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for misguided

• abided
• collided
• confided
• decided
• derided
• divided
• elided
• lopsided
• nitrided
• presided
• provided
• resided