mislead

USmis-LEED/mɪsˈliːd/

Verbmisleads, misleading, misled

Noun pluralmisleads

6 meanings of mislead

Practice

1
verbtransitive
To make someone believe something that is not true.
Like pointing someone down the wrong road on purpose.
The salesman tried to mislead customers about the car's true condition.
She misleads people by mixing half-truths with outright lies.
Similardeceive, misinform, fool, delude, dupe
2
verbtransitive
To guide someone in the wrong direction.
Like a sign that points the wrong way down a path.
A faulty map can mislead hikers deep into the woods.
The broken signs misled drivers onto the closed highway.
Similarmisdirect, misguide
Oppositeguide, direct
3
verbtransitive
To confuse someone, by accident or on purpose.
Like mixing up the labels so no one knows which box is which.
Poorly worded questions can mislead even careful readers.
The mixed-up labels misled shoppers about what was inside.
Similarconfuse, misinform, misdirect
4
verbtransitive
To trick someone into doing something wrong.
Like tricking a friend into a trap with a kind smile.
Scammers misled the elderly couple into handing over their savings.
Clever lies can mislead good people into bad choices.
Similartrick, dupe, con, deceive, lure
5
nountransitivecountable or uncountable
A wrong or bad lead that points someone the wrong way.
The sign at the fork was a mislead, and we walked a mile the wrong way.
The quiz had one right answer and three misleads for each question.
Similardistractor, decoy, misdirection
6
nountransitivecountable
A lie or trick meant to fool someone.
Like a fake trail left to send someone the wrong way.
The story was a clever mislead designed to hide the truth.
Spies plant misleads to throw their enemies off the trail.
Similarruse, deception, trick, ploy, feint

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Origin

From Old English mislǣdan, meaning "to mislead." It is made from "mis-" plus "lead."