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

Turns out, the trend also reveals something deeper about the misguided strategies men, and all people, use to attract partners. —Charles Trepany, USA Today, 17 Sep. 2025

Dissident Iranian cinema body IIFMA — which was created in 2023 in the wake of the Woman Life Freedom movement, sparked by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in police custody on September 22, 2022 — says the arrangement is misguided. —Melanie Goodfellow, Deadline, 16 Sep. 2025

That’s the spirit behind the AI Darwin Awards, which recognize the most spectacularly misguided uses of the technology. —Leslie Katz, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025

For instance, California has long been all-in on a misguided climate-change agenda that has repeatedly increased it emission-reduction targets. —The Editorial Board, Oc Register, 15 Sep. 2025

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