MISLEAD (misled)

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

Irregular inflected form: misled   

 Dictionary entry overview: What does mislead mean? 

• MISLEAD (verb)
  The verb MISLEAD has 2 senses:

1. lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions

2. give false or misleading information to

  Familiarity information: MISLEAD used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• MISLEAD (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they mislead    ... he / she / it misleads   
Past simple: misled   
Past participle: misled   
-ing form: misleading   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Synonyms:

lead astray; misdirect; misguide; mislead

Context example:

The pedestrian misdirected the out-of-town driver

Hypernyms (to "mislead" is one way to...):

conduct; direct; guide; lead; take (take somebody somewhere)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

misleader (someone who leads astray (often deliberately))

Sense 2

Meaning:

Give false or misleading information to

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

misinform; mislead

Hypernyms (to "mislead" is one way to...):

inform (impart knowledge of some fact, state of affairs, or event to)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "mislead"):

lie (tell an untruth; pretend with intent to deceive)

beat around the bush; equivocate; palter; prevaricate; tergiversate (be deliberately ambiguous or unclear in order to mislead or withhold information)

amplify; exaggerate; hyperbolise; hyperbolize; magnify; overdraw; overstate (to enlarge beyond bounds or the truth)

sandbag (downplay one's ability (towards others) in a game in order to deceive, as in gambling)

betray; deceive; lead astray (cause someone to believe an untruth)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody

Derivation:

misleader (someone who leads astray (often deliberately))

 Context examples 

I saw at once that I was on the right track; phonetic spelling had again misled me.

(Dracula, by Bram Stoker)

John Thorpe had first misled him.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)

Even Professors might be misled by the desire for notoriety.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You misled me by the term gentleman.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

If his own vanity, however, did not mislead him, he was the cause, his pride and caprice were the cause, of all that Jane had suffered, and still continued to suffer.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

He had a motive in misleading us.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

I dare not ask you to do what I think right, for I may still be misled by passion.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

I had purposely misled them, that I might have the pleasure of taking them by surprise.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

If she has fancied otherwise, her own wishes have misled her, and I am very sorry—extremely sorry—But, Miss Smith, indeed!

(Emma, by Jane Austen)

Information on which to base your decision may be missing, misleading, or confusing, so strive to clarify all.

(AstrologyZone.com, by Susan Miller)