mislead

verb

mis·​lead ˌmis-ˈlēd 

misled ˌmis-ˈled  ; misleading

transitive verb

: to lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief often by deliberate deceit

His comments were a deliberate attempt to mislead the public.

intransitive verb

: to lead astray : give a wrong impression

Exciting as they are, they mislead.

—E. M. Forster

misleader noun

misleadingly

ˌmis-ˈlē-diŋ-lē 

adverb

Synonyms of mislead

• deceive
• fool
• trick

Choose the Right Synonym for mislead

deceive, mislead, delude, beguile mean to lead astray or frustrate usually by underhandedness.

deceive implies imposing a false idea or belief that causes ignorance, bewilderment, or helplessness.

tried to deceive me about the cost

mislead implies a leading astray that may or may not be intentional.

I was misled by the confusing sign

delude implies deceiving so thoroughly as to obscure the truth.

we were deluded into thinking we were safe

beguile stresses the use of charm and persuasion in deceiving.

was beguiled by false promises

Examples of mislead in a Sentence

We believe that her comments were deliberately meant to mislead the public.

We believe that her comments were deliberately meant to mislead.

Recent Examples on the Web

Claims of misleading conduct The lawsuit also accuses Meta of providing inaccurate descriptions of its safety practices. —Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 31 Dec. 2025

Suits have accused the chains of hiring doctors who lacked adequate training or had troubled pasts, and of using high-pressure sales tactics and misleading advertising pitches that downplay safety risks, court records show. —Fred Schulte, Miami Herald, 30 Dec. 2025

Najib has maintained he was misled by Low and other 1MDB officials into believing that funds deposited into his account were donations from the Saudi royal family. —Reuters 17 Hr Ago, CNN Money, 26 Dec. 2025

The injunction bans any public school employee from misleading parents about their child’s gender presentation at school, such as by using different pronouns or names with a parent than the student uses at school. —Kristen Taketa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Dec. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for mislead

• accede
• agreed
• airspeed
• alkyd
• bindweed
• chickweed
• concede
• decreed
• duckweed
• exceed
• flaxseed
• impede

Kids Definition

mislead

verb

mis·​lead (ˈ)mis-ˈlēd 

misled -ˈled  ; misleading

: to lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief

misleading adjective

Legal Definition

mislead

verb

mis·​lead mis-ˈlēd 

misled -ˈled  ; misleading

transitive verb

: to lead into a mistaken action or belief : to cause to have a false impression

intransitive verb

: to create a false impression compare deceive