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)

(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
To deceive by telling lies or otherwise giving a false impression.
To deceptively trick into something wrong.
The preacher elaborated Satan's ways to mislead us into sin
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 (ʾaḍalla)
Armenian: մոլորեցնել (hy) (molorecʿnel), սխալ ուղղությամբ տանել (sxal ułłutʿyamb tanel)
Bulgarian: заблуждавам (bg) (zabluždavam)
Catalan: desencaminar (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 誤導／误导 (zh) (wùdǎo)
Czech: svést (cs), klamat
Danish: vildlede
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)
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 impf, wprowadzić w błąd (pl) pf, mylić (pl) impf, zmylić pf
Portuguese: desencaminhar
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: propiciar equivocarse, desencaminar (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 translations at deceive

Albanian: please add this translation if you can
Armenian: խաբել (hy) (xabel), մոլորեցնել (hy) (molorecʿnel)
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 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
Swedish: vilseleda (sv)
Turkish: kandırmak (tr), aldatmak (tr)
Ukrainian: please add this translation if you can

to deceptively trick into something wrong — See also translations at 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
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
Spanish: ^{(please verify)} engañar (es)
Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kandırmak (tr)

Noun

mislead (countable and uncountable, plural misleads)

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.
(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
mislead in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913

Anagrams

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