Mislead

v. t. [imp. & p. p. MISLED; p. pr. & vb. n. MISLEADING.] [See LEAD.] To lead into a wrong way or path; to lead astray; to guide into error; to cause to mistake; to deceive.

Trust not servants who mislead or misinform you. Bacon.

To give due light To the misled and lonely traveler. Milton.

Synonyms—To MISLEAD, DELUDE. To mislead is to lead astray in any manner; to delude is to do it by exciting the imagination. The former does not of necessity imply any bad design: a man may mislead us through false information or erroneous judgment. The latter always supposes more or less of conscious intention: an impostor deludes his dupes by false pretenses and hypocrisy.

O, give me leave, I have deluded you; ’Twas neither Charles, nor yet the duke. Shak. ’Tis hard to say, if greater want of skill Appear in writing or in judging ill: But of the two, less dangerous is the offense, To tire our patience, than mislead our sense. Pope.