Synonyms of misleading

misleading 1 of 2

adjective

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

• deceptive
• false
• incorrect
• deceiving
• deceitful
• specious
• fallacious
• ambiguous
• delusive
• inaccurate
• beguiling
• delusory
• deluding
• fraudulent
• subtle
• perplexing
• dishonest
• trick
• puzzling
• tricky
• wrong
• cunning
• confounding
• crooked
• untruthful
• sneaky
• mendacious
• distracting
• lying
• wily
• untrustworthy
• slick
• shifty
• underhanded
• duplicitous
• artful
• crafty
• sly
• treacherous
• shady
• foxy
• subtile
• devious
• bogus
• spurious
• insidious
• underhand
• evasive
• bewildering
• counterfeit
• faithless
• artificial
• trickish
• fake
• hypocritical
• perfidious
• forged
• guileful
• equivocal
• insincere
• phony
• sham
• feigned
• dissembling
• ambidextrous
• defrauding
• knavish
• jive
• circuitous
• sneaking
• backhanded
• fast
• double-dealing
• two-faced
• left-handed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightforward
• forthright
• direct
• plain
• frank
• open
• candid
• straight
• outspoken
• nondeceptive
• illuminating
• explanatory
• aboveboard
• revealing
• clarifying
• truthful
• revelatory
• plainspoken
• honest
• openhearted
• trustworthy
• free-spoken
• elucidative
• foursquare

misleading

2 of 2

verb

present participle of mislead

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

• deceiving
• tricking
• fooling
• misguiding
• misinforming
• kidding
• teasing
• deluding
• duping
• bamboozling
• beguiling
• suckering
• gulling
• hoaxing
• hoodwinking
• cheating
• humbugging
• bluffing
• stinging
• sucking in
• conning
• juggling
• spoofing
• cozening
• stringing along
• snookering
• taking in
• gaffing
• snowing
• faking out
• catching
• gammoning
• burning
• having on
• having
• hornswoggling
• buffaloing
• doing a number on
• pulling one's leg
• leading one down the garden path
• pulling the wool over one's eyes
• defrauding
• shortchanging
• swindling
• flimflamming
• sticking
• putting on
• fleecing
• bleeding
• mulcting
• hustling
• rooking
• diddling
• chiseling
• squeezing
• euchring
• skinning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• revealing
• exposing
• debunking
• uncovering
• disclosing
• telling
• unmasking
• showing up
• undeceiving
• divulging
• disillusioning
• unveiling
• disabusing
• uncloaking
• disenchanting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of misleading

Adjective

Soon afterward, an investment-research firm alleged that the company had made misleading claims about pre-orders. — Dan Kaufman, New Yorker, 27 Oct. 2026

Trump has described the broadcast as false, misleading and defamatory under Florida law. — Brittney Melton, NPR, 23 Oct. 2026

Partisan actors are gaming AI platforms to regurgitate misleading information ahead of critical elections in Brazil, Israel, and the US. — Brendan Ruberry, semafor.com, 22 Oct. 2026

Meta argued the state failed to prove misleading statements about privacy and that content moderation actually harmed New Mexicans. — ABC News, 21 Oct. 2026

Meta argued that New Mexico failed to prove that the tech giant's executives made misleading statements about privacy and that its content moderation practices harmed state residents. — Aimee Picchi, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

According to Shadwick, Sanborn also gave some of these early oil paintings new, misleading titles, and assumed Hopper had conceived of the compositions himself, inspired by his surroundings in Nyack. — Leigh Anne Miller, ARTnews.com, 21 Oct. 2026

Rogers accused El-Sayed of seeking to defund the police in Egypt, a misleading claim based on an open letter El-Sayed signed in 2012. — New York Times, 21 Oct. 2026

Opposing fans were furious, some suggested canceling the season because a third straight title was a foregone conclusion, and prominent writers egged them on with misleading comments. — Ian Miller Outkick, FOXNews.com, 20 Oct. 2026

Verb

But after its sale in 1999, enrollment began to decline as borrowers accused Brooks of high-pressure sales tactics, lying about graduation and job placement rates and misleading students about the school's high cost. — Cory Turner, NPR, 29 Oct. 2026

Many of those daycare centers were allowed to keep operating with high quality ratings, leaving parents with misleading information about lapses in care. — Nedra Rhone, AJC.com, 28 Oct. 2026

His campaign said the text messages were misleading and meant to confuse voters. — Romy Ellenbogen Herald, Miami Herald, 28 Oct. 2026

The findings raise concerns about misleading campaign connections without proving that all the stores committed fraud. — Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2026

Cross-checking the same model number across two or three sellers — and looking at price history where available — can help shoppers distinguish genuine savings from misleading markdowns. — Ashley Lynch, Kansas City Star, 27 Oct. 2026

The speakers accused Cofer of exploiting fears surrounding immigration enforcement and misleading Latino voters about Guerra’s record. — Jennah Pendleton, Sacbee.com, 23 Oct. 2026

In one case, the program paid out more than $50 million to an electric vehicle company after its former chief executive was indicted on suspicion of misleading investors, Briscoe reports. — Noah Haggerty, Los Angeles Times, 22 Oct. 2026

In another landmark ruling in New Mexico state court, Meta was ordered to pay a total of nearly $1 billion in civil penalties and abatement for misleading the public about the safety of its products. — Lauren Feiner, The Verge, 21 Oct. 2026