mislead

/ˈmɪsˌlid/

/mɪsˈlid/

Other forms: misled; misleading; misleads

Use the verb mislead to describe what you're doing when you don't tell the whole truth, or when you let someone believe something false.

You mislead someone when you point them in the wrong direction, literally or metaphorically. If you let your cousin think an expensive gift is from you when you actually just sent her a card, you are misleading her. And if you give a tourist directions away from the chain restaurant he's looking for, you are misleading him. Finally, if you think this doesn't really count as lying, you're misleading yourself.

Definitions of mislead

1. verb

   lead someone in the wrong direction or give someone wrong directions
   synonyms: lead astray, misdirect, misguide

   type of:

   conduct, direct, guide, lead, take

   take somebody somewhere
2. verb

   give false or misleading information to
   synonyms: misinform

   types:

   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

   romance

   tell romantic or exaggerated lies

   perjure

   knowingly tell an untruth in a legal court and render oneself guilty of perjury

   fib

   tell a relatively insignificant lie

   impersonate, personate, pose

   pretend to be someone you are not; sometimes with fraudulent intentions

   bamboozle, hoodwink, lead by the nose, play false, pull the wool over someone's eyes, snow

   conceal one's true motives from especially by elaborately feigning good intentions so as to gain an end

   overemphasise, overemphasize, overstress

   place special or excessive emphasis on

   befool, cod, dupe, fool, gull, put on, put one across, put one over, slang, take in

   fool or hoax

   blow, bluster, boast, brag, gas, gasconade, shoot a line, swash, tout, vaunt

   show off

   aggrandise, aggrandize, blow up, dramatise, dramatize, embellish, embroider, lard, pad

   add details to

   type of:

   inform

   impart knowledge of some fact, state or affairs, or event to