as in deceptive
tending or having power to deceive
the misleading text of the advertisement would like you to believe that you're getting something for nothing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in deceiving
to cause to believe what is untrue
the coral snake's attractive colors can mislead you into thinking that it is harmless
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of misleading
Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
The idea is to prevent ads containing false or misleading material that can potentially hurt someone.
—Sydney Lupkin, NPR, 4 Nov. 2025
Good teams get the job done with no empathy and little fuss, but a run of five victories in six fixtures in all competitions proved misleading.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Democratic lawmakers have called Kehoe’s effort misleading and hollow, saying the money was also minuscule compared to the $130 million the state receives each month to provide federal food assistance to more than 650,000 residents.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
Richman’s established history of communicating with reporters about Comey and the FBI is also key to the government’s allegation that Comey’s later denials to Congress were misleading.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
And, this time, there would be no emotional comeback attempt to provide a misleading sense of optimism for where and what this team is.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 28 Oct. 2025
He has been criticized for making unscientific and misleading statements, including COVID-19 misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories, and affirming antisemitic, racist, and transphobic comments.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
Murphy said that’s misleading because many incidents never make it into official statistics.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Yet the nonprofit appears to be concealing this from visitors to its website, where a search function, the only nontechnical tool for seeing what’s in Common Crawl’s archives, returns misleading results for certain domains.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Those stances, taken together, have generated concern among some public health experts that Means could use her potential pulpit to spread misleading information.
—Aria Bendix, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2025
The temporary restraining order motion alleged that the website had misleading information.
—Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Oct. 2025
The last quarter of the eighteenth century was a pre-democratic era, and all efforts to read a Jacksonian or Tocquevillian faith in the wisdom of the common man into the American founding are misleading distortions.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Regulators have already fined Shein $46 million (40 million euros) for misleading advertising.
—NPR, 28 Oct. 2025
Cuban oregano or Mexican mint (Plectranthus amboinicus) are misleading names for this distinctive herb since its habitat, although uncertain, is either East Africa or India.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025
Fake sales accounts, other Wells Fargo scandals From 2013 to 2016, the comptroller’s office said that Russ Anderson failed to provide information or provided false, incomplete or misleading information during compliance examinations in 2015.
—Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2025
Adjective
This, in turn, creates a feedback loop where accurate, trustworthy information is rewarded while low-quality or potentially misleading content loses influence.
—Matthew Kayser, USA Today, 4 Nov. 2025
The idea is to prevent ads containing false or misleading material that can potentially hurt someone.
—Sydney Lupkin, NPR, 4 Nov. 2025
Good teams get the job done with no empathy and little fuss, but a run of five victories in six fixtures in all competitions proved misleading.
—George Caulkin, New York Times, 3 Nov. 2025
Democratic lawmakers have called Kehoe’s effort misleading and hollow, saying the money was also minuscule compared to the $130 million the state receives each month to provide federal food assistance to more than 650,000 residents.
—Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 31 Oct. 2025
Richman’s established history of communicating with reporters about Comey and the FBI is also key to the government’s allegation that Comey’s later denials to Congress were misleading.
—Kaelan Deese, The Washington Examiner, 30 Oct. 2025
And, this time, there would be no emotional comeback attempt to provide a misleading sense of optimism for where and what this team is.
—Steve Conroy, Boston Herald, 28 Oct. 2025
He has been criticized for making unscientific and misleading statements, including COVID-19 misinformation and promoting conspiracy theories, and affirming antisemitic, racist, and transphobic comments.
—Miranda Jeyaretnam, Time, 28 Oct. 2025
Murphy said that’s misleading because many incidents never make it into official statistics.
—Sarah Rumpf-Whitten, FOXNews.com, 28 Oct. 2025
Verb
Tomer-Yerushalmi is also suspected of allegedly misleading the High Court of Justice, and senior military and justice officials, about the leak of the footage and even submitting a false affidavit to the court.
—Tal Shalev, CNN Money, 4 Nov. 2025
Yet the nonprofit appears to be concealing this from visitors to its website, where a search function, the only nontechnical tool for seeing what’s in Common Crawl’s archives, returns misleading results for certain domains.
—Alex Reisner, The Atlantic, 4 Nov. 2025
Those stances, taken together, have generated concern among some public health experts that Means could use her potential pulpit to spread misleading information.
—Aria Bendix, NBC news, 30 Oct. 2025
The temporary restraining order motion alleged that the website had misleading information.
—Elizabeth Campbell, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 29 Oct. 2025
The last quarter of the eighteenth century was a pre-democratic era, and all efforts to read a Jacksonian or Tocquevillian faith in the wisdom of the common man into the American founding are misleading distortions.
—Literary Hub, 28 Oct. 2025
Regulators have already fined Shein $46 million (40 million euros) for misleading advertising.
—NPR, 28 Oct. 2025
Cuban oregano or Mexican mint (Plectranthus amboinicus) are misleading names for this distinctive herb since its habitat, although uncertain, is either East Africa or India.
—Joshua Siskin, Oc Register, 24 Oct. 2025
Fake sales accounts, other Wells Fargo scandals From 2013 to 2016, the comptroller’s office said that Russ Anderson failed to provide information or provided false, incomplete or misleading information during compliance examinations in 2015.
—Desiree Mathurin, Charlotte Observer, 23 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misleading
Adjective
-
The lawsuit, filed in New York federal court on Tuesday, brings claims for deceptive practices and false advertising, among others.—
Winston Cho,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Nov. 2025
-
The complaints allow the public to report unfair or deceptive business practices, according to the agency’s website, and can prompt investigations from the office.—
Nicole Blanchard,
Idaho Statesman,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
-
Gordon warned me that this was deceiving.—
Ava Kofman,
New Yorker,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Santos was sentenced to prison in April after admitting last year to deceiving donors and stealing the identities of 11 people — including his own family members — to make donations to his campaign.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
31 Oct. 2025
Adjective
-
Several residents who work in the Georgia King Village area weighed in on the incident, including Harriette Guity, who told News12 that false reports based on AI could stretch first responders thin.—
Kimberlee Speakman,
PEOPLE,
25 Oct. 2025
-
Archaeologists concluded the structure was actually a false tomb, or a cenotaph, a type of burial monument erected to honor a deceased person buried elsewhere.—
Aspen Pflughoeft,
Miami Herald,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Growing tulips indoors in pots uses a technique called forcing—tricking the bulb and plant into blooming.—
Andy Wilcox,
Better Homes & Gardens,
29 Oct. 2025
-
How to protect yourself from AI phishing scams AI phishing scams rely on tricking people into trusting what looks and sounds real.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Anyone who predicted this Titans team to win more than four or five games was fooling themselves, and even those predictions are coming off over-optimistic.—
Nick Suss,
Nashville Tennessean,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Either Michigan is fooling everyone in college football, or the Wolverines are fooling themselves.—
Austin Meek,
New York Times,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Misleading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misleading. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share