Meaning & use

mislead

verb·Academic

To cause someone to believe something untrue, often by giving a false or incomplete impression.

See it in a sentence

The advertisement misled customers into thinking the product was completely free.

His vague answer misled the committee about how much progress had actually been made.

A note on using this word

Mislead can be intentional or accidental, unlike deceive, which almost always implies deliberate trickery.

Words with a similar meaning

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

Words with an opposite meaning

enlighten

Make it your own

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