mislead

English

Etymology

From Middle English misleden, from Old English mislǣdan (“to mislead”), from Proto-Germanic *missalaidijaną (“to mislead”), equivalent to mis- +‎ lead.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /mɪsˈliːd/

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -iːd

Verb

mislead (third-person singular simple present misleads, present participle misleading, simple past and past participle misled) (transitive)

1. (literally) To lead astray, in a false direction.
   • 2004, Green Day (lyrics and music), “Jesus of Suburbia”, in American Idiot:

     City of the dead / At the end of another lost highway / Signs misleading to nowhere

2. To deceive by telling lies or otherwise giving a false impression.
3. To deceptively trick into something wrong.

   The preacher elaborated Satan's ways to mislead us into sin

4. To accidentally or intentionally confuse.

Synonyms

• (lead in a false direction): forlead, misguide, misinform
• (deceive by giving a false impression): deceive, delude, beguile, cheat
• (trick into something wrong): seduce

Antonyms

• guide, lead, direct

Derived terms

• misleader
• misleading (adjective)

Translations

lead in a false direction

• Arabic: أَضَلَّ (ʔaḍalla)
• Armenian: մոլորեցնել (hy) (molorecʻnel), սխալ ուղղությամբ տանել (sxal uġġutʻyamb tanel)
• Bulgarian: заблуждавам (bg) (zabluždavam)
• Catalan: desencaminar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誤導／误导 (zh) (wùdǎo)

• Czech: svést (cs), klamat
• Danish: vildlede (da)
• Dutch: misleiden (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: johtaa harhaan, harhauttaa (fi)
• French: égarer (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: in die Irre führen, irreführen (de)
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (airzjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πλανάω (planáō)

• Hebrew: הִטְעָה (hit'á)
• Italian: portare sulla cattiva strada, sviare (it)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Kazakh: адастыру (adastyru)
• Khmer: បំភាន់ (km) (bɑmphŏən)
• Old English: fortēon
• Polish: wprowadzać w błąd (pl) impf, wprowadzić w błąd (pl) pf, mylić (pl) impf, zmylić pf
• Portuguese: desencaminhar (pt)
• Russian: вводи́ть в заблужде́ние (ru) impf (vvodítʹ v zabluždénije), ввести́ в заблужде́ние (ru) pf (vvestí v zabluždénije), обма́нывать (ru) impf (obmányvatʹ), обману́ть (ru) pf (obmanútʹ)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: обманути

  Roman: obmanuti (sh)

• Slovene: zavêsti
• Spanish: desviar (es), propiciar equivocarse, desencaminar (es), despistar (es)
• Swedish: vilseleda (sv)
• Tatar: адаштыру (adaştıru)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ayartmak (tr), saptırmak (tr), yanıltmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

to deceive by lies or other false impression — see also deceive

• Albanian: please add this translation if you can
• Armenian: խաբել (hy) (xabel), մոլորեցնել (hy) (molorecʻnel)
• Bulgarian: заблуждавам (bg) (zabluždavam)
• Catalan: enganyar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: please add this translation if you can

• Dutch: misleiden (nl), bedotten (nl), bedriegen (nl)
• Esperanto: please add this translation if you can
• Estonian: please add this translation if you can
• Finnish: vedättää (fi), johtaa harhaan, harhauttaa (fi)
• French: égarer (fr), mésinformer (fr)
• Georgian: please add this translation if you can
• German: in die Irre führen
• Gothic: 𐌰𐌹𐍂𐌶𐌾𐌰𐌽 (airzjan)
• Greek:

  Ancient: πλανάω (planáō)

• Hungarian: félrevezet (hu), megtéveszt (hu)
• Italian: ingannare (it), raggirare (it), truffare (it), disinformare
• Latin: decipio (la)
• Latvian: please add this translation if you can
• Lithuanian: please add this translation if you can
• Maori: tuapeka, whakatuapeka, rūpahu, papahu, whakapōhēhē
• Polish: wprowadzać w błąd (pl) impf, wprowadzić w błąd (pl) pf
• Portuguese: enganar (pt)
• Quechua: pallquy
• Romanian: please add this translation if you can
• Russian: please add this translation if you can
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: завести, обманути

  Roman: zavesti (sh), obmanuti (sh)

• Slovak: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: zavêsti
• Spanish: engañar (es), encalabrinar (es)
• Swedish: vilseleda (sv)
• Turkish: kandırmak (tr), aldatmak (tr)
• Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

to deceptively trick into something wrong — see also trick

• Bulgarian: подвеждам (bg) (podveždam)
• Catalan: enganyar (ca)
• Dutch: verleiden (nl), verlokken (nl)
• Finnish: vietellä (fi), viekotella
• French: égarer (fr), induire en erreur (fr)
• German: in die Irre führen
• Portuguese: enganar (pt)
• Serbo-Croatian: please add this translation if you can
• Slovene: zavêsti
• Spanish: engañar (es)
• Swedish: förleda (sv)
• Turkish: ayartmak (tr), kandırmak (tr)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Arabic: ^{(please verify)} غَرَّ (ḡarra)
• Italian: ^{(please verify)} ingannare (it), ^{(please verify)} prendere in giro
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kandırmak (tr)

Noun

mislead (countable and uncountable, plural misleads)

1. A wrong or bad lead; a leading in the wrong direction.
   • 1951, Improvement of Grading Practices for the Air Training, page 31:

     If all the misleads (incorrect alternatives) are illogical, absurd, or in any way unattractive as possible answers, the student has no difficulty in choosing the correct answer.

2. (countable) That which is deceptive or untruthful (e.g. a falsehood, deception, untruth, or ruse).
   • 2021, Aren Bjorgman, Frozen Ashes:

     The skinny body, a mislead to make people think that he was captured by someone and tortured. Even the loud gunshot was a mislead to make them ask questions to common citizens. His long untidy hair, also a mislead.

References

• “mislead”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.
• “mislead”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• elasmid, m'ladies, medial s, medials, misdeal, smailed