mislead
C1Formal and informal, predominantly written but common in spoken discourse when discussing deception or errors.
Definition
Meaning
To cause someone to believe something that is not true; to deceive.
To lead in a wrong direction or into a mistaken action or belief, often by deliberate deceit, but sometimes through innocent mistake or ambiguity. Can be intentional or unintentional.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
Often implies a level of responsibility or agency on the part of the one who misleads, even if unintentionally. The past tense and past participle are 'misled'. There is a related noun 'misleading' which functions as an adjective.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant lexical differences. UK English may show a slightly higher frequency in formal, regulatory contexts (e.g., 'misleading advertising').
Connotations
Equally strong connotations of dishonesty or error in both variants.
Frequency
Comparable frequency in both dialects.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
mislead someonemislead someone about somethingmislead someone into doing somethingbe misled into believing that...Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “Lead someone down the garden path”
- “Pull the wool over someone's eyes”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used in legal and ethical contexts regarding false advertising, financial reporting, or contractual obligations. E.g., 'The company was fined for misleading shareholders.'
Academic
Used in discussions of logic, rhetoric, or research ethics. E.g., 'The graph's scale is misleading and distorts the findings.'
Everyday
Common in discussions about personal trust, news, or directions. E.g., 'His smile misled me into thinking he was friendly.'
Technical
In law, a key term for fraud or misrepresentation; in statistics, refers to data visualization that creates false impressions.
Examples
By Part of Speech
verb
British English
- The brochure must not mislead consumers about the product's benefits.
- I'm afraid you've been misled by the tabloid headlines.
American English
- The ads were ruled to mislead the public deliberately.
- Don't let the fancy packaging mislead you—the contents are mediocre.
adverb
British English
- The data was presented misleadingly to support their argument.
- He spoke misleadingly about his qualifications.
American English
- The chart was drawn misleadingly to exaggerate growth.
- The contract was worded misleadingly.
adjective
British English
- The advertisement was deemed misleading and was withdrawn.
- He gave misleading evidence to the committee.
American English
- The politician's statement was factually misleading.
- It's misleading to compare the two companies directly.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- The map misled us and we got lost.
- I don't want to mislead you; the job is quite difficult.
- The company was accused of using misleading statistics in its report.
- His friendly manner misled me into trusting him too quickly.
- The witness's ambiguous testimony deliberately misled the jury.
- Phrasing the question that way could potentially mislead respondents and skew the survey results.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think: MIS (wrongly) + LEAD (to guide). To wrongly lead someone's understanding.
Conceptual Metaphor
KNOWING IS SEEING / TRUTH IS A STRAIGHT PATH. To mislead is to obstruct someone's view or to lead them off the true path.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Do not confuse with 'misled' /'mɪsˌlɛd/ (past tense). The Russian 'вводить в заблуждение' is a good equivalent. Avoid direct calques like 'плохо вести'.
Common Mistakes
- Misspelling past tense as 'mislead' instead of 'misled'. Incorrect: 'He mislead me yesterday.' Correct: 'He misled me yesterday.' Using it interchangeably with 'lie' (mislead can be unintentional, a lie is deliberate).
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence uses 'mislead' correctly?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
To 'lie' is to knowingly state a falsehood. To 'mislead' is to cause someone to have a mistaken belief, which can be done intentionally (like lying) or unintentionally through carelessness, ambiguity, or incomplete information.
It is irregular. The base form is 'mislead', the past simple and past participle are both 'misled' (/ˌmɪsˈlɛd/).
Yes, 'misleading' is the present participle of the verb but functions very commonly as an adjective (e.g., 'misleading information', 'a misleading advertisement').
No, that is a common spelling/pronunciation mistake. The correct form is 'I was misled' (pronounced /mɪsˈlɛd/).