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

But these accords rested on the dangerous, misguided belief that the Palestinian issue had become irrelevant in the region and that further normalization agreements could be reached while bypassing the Palestinian aspiration for self-determination. —Ami Ayalon, Foreign Affairs, 5 Aug. 2025

Gun-rights advocates are quick to point to such numbers, as well as the overall pandemic-era spike in violent crime, as evidence that the laws are, at best, misguided. —Nick Coltrain, Denver Post, 3 Aug. 2025

What proceeds, inexorably, is a pulpy concoction of greed, murder, misguided ambition, and dumb luck (good and bad). —Tanya Melendez, EW.com, 1 Aug. 2025

Prosecutors have agreed with Joseph, while Dugan's team has said Joseph's report is misguided. —John Diedrich, jsonline.com, 31 July 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