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/
• 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.
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

• misleading (adjective)

Translations

lead in a false direction

• Arabic: أَضَلَّ (ʔaḍalla)
• Armenian: please add this translation if you can
• Catalan: desencaminar (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 誤導／误导 (zh) (wùdǎo), 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)
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πλανάω (planáō)

• Italian: portare sulla cattiva strada, sviare (it)
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Khmer: please add this translation if you can
• 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)
• Thai: please add this translation if you can
• Turkish: ayartmak (tr)
• Vietnamese: please add this translation if you can

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

• Catalan: enganyar (ca)
• Dutch: misleiden (nl), bedotten (nl), bedriegen (nl)
• Finnish: vedättää (fi), johtaa harhaan, harhauttaa (fi)
• French: égarer (fr), mésinformer (fr)
• German: in die Irre führen
• Greek:

  Ancient Greek: πλανάω (planáō)

• Hungarian: félrevezet (hu), megtéveszt (hu)
• Italian: ingannare (it), raggirare (it), truffare (it), disinformare
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Maori: tuapeka, whakatuapeka, rūpahu, papahu, whakapōhēhē
• Portuguese: enganar (pt)
• Quechua: pallquy
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: завести, обманути

  Roman: zavesti (sh), obmanuti (sh)

• Slovene: zavêsti
• Swedish: vilseleda (sv)
• Turkish: kandırmak (tr), aldatmak (tr)

to deceptively trick into something wrong — see also trick

• Catalan: enganyar (ca)
• Dutch: verleiden (nl), verlokken (nl)
• Finnish: vietellä (fi), viekotella
• French: égarer (fr), induire en erreur (fr)
• German: in die Irre führen
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• 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
• (deprecated template usage) {{trans-mid}}
• Spanish: ^{(please verify)} engañar (es)
• Turkish: ^{(please verify)} kandırmak (tr)

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