# mislead

Pronunciation: US say "mis-LEED" /mɪsˈliːd/; UK

## Verb

1. To deceive someone by telling lies or creating a false impression.
   - Simple: To make someone believe something that is not true.
   - _Advertisers sometimes mislead consumers with vague claims about health benefits._
   - _He deliberately misled the committee about how the funds were spent._
2. To lead someone astray, guiding them in a false or wrong direction.
   - Simple: To guide someone in the wrong direction.
   - _Bad weather and poor maps misled the expedition far off course._
   - _These trail markers mislead newcomers who don't know the area._
3. To confuse someone about the facts, whether by accident or on purpose.
   - Simple: To confuse someone, by accident or on purpose.
   - _Ambiguous wording in the contract misled both parties about their obligations._
   - _Confusing road signs mislead tourists who are unfamiliar with the city._
4. To deceptively trick someone into doing something wrong or harmful.
   - Simple: To trick someone into doing something wrong.
   - _The con artist misled investors into funding a company that never existed._
   - _Recruiters sometimes mislead young people into signing exploitative contracts._

## Noun

5. A bad or wrong lead, or the act of leading someone in the wrong direction.
   - Simple: A wrong or bad lead that points someone the wrong way.
   - _The anonymous tip proved to be a mislead that sent detectives searching the wrong side of town._
   - _Good test writers make each mislead plausible enough to tempt a student who has only half learned the material._
6. A falsehood, deception, or ruse; something put forward to deceive.
   - Simple: A lie or trick meant to fool someone.
   - _Her alibi was an elaborate mislead that fooled the detectives for weeks._
   - _The magician's patter is full of misleads that distract the audience._

## Origin

From Middle English mysleden, from Old English mislǣdan ("to mislead"), which comes from Proto-Germanic *missalaidijaną. It can be analyzed as "mis-" plus "lead."

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/mislead (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).