Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Misleading |
MisleadingAdjective1. Tending to deceive or mislead either deliberately or inadvertently; "the deceptive calm in the eye of the storm"; "deliberately deceptive packaging"; "a misleading similarity"; "statistics can be presented in ways that are misleading". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "misleading" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1550. (references) |
Synonym: MisleadingSynonym: deceptive (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Error | Heresy; (heterodoxy); hallucination; (insanity); false light; (fallacy of vision); dream; (fancy); fable; (untruth); bias; (misjudgment); misleading; Verb: |
Misteaching | Noun: misteaching, misinformaton, misintelligence, misguidance, misdirection, mispersuasion, misinstruction, misleading;Verb: perversion, false teaching; sophistry; college of Laputa; the blind leading the blind. |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Misleading |
| English words defined with "misleading": bastard, beguiling, black, bogus ♦ canard, casuistry, cloaked ♦ deceit, deceivingly, deception, deceptive, deceptively, devious, disguised ♦ electronic deception, electronic manipulative deception ♦ fake, fallacious, finagler, fraud in the inducement ♦ juggle, juggling ♦ manipulative electronic deception, masked, Misguiding, misinform, mislead, misleadingly, misrepresentation ♦ oblique ♦ phoney, phony ♦ sophistic, sophistical ♦ undependable, unreliable ♦ wangler. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "misleading": Ain't ♦ Bad Faith, Byzantine generals ♦ CAMOUFLAGE SPECIALIST, Canary Birds, clock rate, CONTINUITY DIRECTOR, copy reader ♦ editor, continuity and script ♦ home page ♦ local echo ♦ Original Equipment Manufacturer ♦ price manipulation ♦ SCRIPT READER, spoofing ♦ Veneer ♦ Whereabouts. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "misleading": mislead. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | I'm sorry, however, if you found my words misleading, but you see, you are to remain here, in spirit, anyway (The Rocky Horror Picture Show; writing credit: Richard O'Brien; Jim Sharman) Books can be misleading! (Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets; writing credit: Steven Kloves) | |
Movie/TV Titles | Misleading Cases (1967) The Misleading Lady (1916) A Misleading Miss (1914) Misleading Evidence (1912) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books |
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Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit |  | Inspectors of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, tuned in on 1949 television programs to listen for false or misleading statements in advertising. Credit: Library of Congress. |
Source: pictures compiled by the editor from various references; see picture credits. | |||
| Author | Quotation |
Herbert Spencer | How often misused words generate misleading thoughts. |
John Maynard Keynes | But this long run is a misleading guide to current affairs. in the long run we are all dead. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | The term "death" is somewhat misleading, because some patients survive. (references) | |
Newspaper and magazine reports of such research can be unintentionally misleading. (references) | ||
The name CEE is somewhat misleading, since the condition can occur throughout much of Europe. (references) | ||
Business | Washing instructions, size of garment and country of origin should be displayed, but must not be false or misleading information. (references) | |
According to industry sources, market share of various manufacturers/suppliers can be misleading since many of these companies have either merged or established manufacturing facilities in different countries. (references) | ||
The Act applies to firms or traders marketing goods, services, etc. Any commercial marketing practices may be prohibited if they are contrary to good marketing practice or considered unfair in some other way. This is to protect consumers and traders, mainly against misleading advertising. (references) | ||
Civil Liberties | Laos | The regulations significantly curtailed freedom of expression and made "disturbing the peace and happiness of the community" and "reporting misleading news" criminal acts. (references) |
Ghana | On the same day, the Minister of Communications accused the journalists of misleading the public and defended the role of the BNI by noting that it may legitimately assist police in investigations as necessary. (references) | |
Hungary | In November charges were filed against Aron Modus and six other persons for publishing the anti-Semitic "Protocols of the Elders of Zion," on the grounds that the book was a misleading account of Jewish history. (references) | |
Economic History | Burma | Official statistics are often unreliable and may be misleading. (references) |
Slovak Rep | Consumers have complained about unfair or misleading practices of some companies. (references) | |
Vietnam | A wide variety of consumer products bearing false or misleading labels are readily available in the markets. (references) | |
Human Rights | Ukraine | However, since judges frequently send back to the prosecutor for "additional investigation" cases that lack sufficient evidence to support the charges (which usually leads to the dropping of the case), these statistics are somewhat misleading. (references) |
Political Economy | BOLIVIA | Although the M2 growth rate had decreased significantly since 1997, reaching negative levels during 1999, it increased by approximately 13 percent in 2000 and it is expected to grow by 8 percent in 2001. The published figures for money in circulation are misleading, however, since there are billions of U.S. dollars in circulation side-by-side with the local currency, the boliviano. (references) |
Trade | Colombia | Labels and illustrations cannot be inaccurate or misleading. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Misleading" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.22% of the time. "Misleading" is used about 1,080 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 97.22% | 1,050 | 7,114 |
| Lexical Verb (-ing form) | 2.78% | 30 | 63,341 |
| Total | 100.00% | 1,080 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "misleading": misleading advertising ♦ misleading information ♦ misleading the authorities responsible for the administraton of justice ♦ misleading the judicial authorities. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "misleading": misleading-intermediate. | |
Ending with "misleading": highly-misleading. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Language | Translations for "misleading"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | |
Albanian | mashtrues (ambidextrous, artful, bilker, bluffer, bouncer, catchy, cheat, Crimp, deceitful, deceiver, deceptive, delusive, delusory, diddler, dishonest, dodger, double, double dealing, double-dealer, finagler, fraud, fraudulent, guileful, gyp, humbug, hustler, impostor, Jack-in-the-box, mendacious, mountebank, pettifogger, pettifogging, phoney, quack, racketeer, rascal, rascally, rogue, sandman, shuffler, skin, snide, swindler, trickster, twister, two-tongued), çorientues (catchy). (various references) | |
Arabic | مضلل (deceitful, deceptive, false, illusive, misguiding, perverting), مضل (beguiler, deceptive, delusive, perversive), مخادع (artful, bluff, bluffer, crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, devious, dishonest, disingenuous, double, double dealing, double-tongued, face, false, fraudulent, hustler, illusive, illusory, indirect, insincere, misguiding, sly, trickish, tricky, underhand, wily), خادع (bluffy, crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, delusory, dishonest, double dealing, fallacious, false, fool, illusive, illusory, insincere, rip off, trickish, tricky, wily), المضلل (illusionist). (various references) | |
Bulgarian | заблуждаващ, лъжлив (bogus, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, delusory, double, double-tongued, elusory, false, lying, mendacious, mock, perjurious, phantasmagoric, pretended, quack, shifty, spoof, tinsel, truthless, untrue, untruthful, vain), подвеждащ (loaded, tricky), подвеждане (duping, ruse). (various references) | |
Chinese | 误引 (mislead, Misled). (various references) | |
Czech | zavádìjící, klamný (deceptive, delusory, fallacious, false, illusive, illusory, untrue). (various references) | |
Danish | vildledende reklame (misleading advertising), falske eller fordrejede oplysninger (false or misleading information), Arbejdsgruppe vedroerende vildledende og illoyal Reklame (Working Party on Misleading and Unfair Advertising). (various references) | |
Dutch | illusoir. (various references) | |
Esperanto | iluzia. (various references) | |
Finnish | harhaanjohtava (delusive), erheellinen (erroneous, incorrect), erehdyttävä (deceptive, fallacious), eksyttävä. (various references) | |
French | trompeur, captieux, égarant. (various references) | |
German | irreführend (deceptive, delusive, delusory, false, misdirecting, misleadingly), irreführende, beirrend. (various references) | |
Greek | παραπλανητικός (deceptive), αποπλανητικόσ (seductive). (various references) | |
Hebrew | מתעתע (cheating, fallacious), מתע" (deceitful), מטע" (delusive, delusory, fallacious, illusory, specious), "תעי", "ולכת שולל, "ש'י" (leading astray), "חטא" (misfire, missing a target), "טעי" (deception, fallaciousness, feint, sophistry). (various references) | |
Hungarian | félrevezető (abuser, fallacious, false, mocker). (various references) | |
Italian | ingannevole (crafty, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, dodgy, elusive, false, tricky), fallace (fallacious), erroneo (erroneous, mistaken, wrong, wrongful), che trae in errore. (various references) | |
Japanese Kanji | 紛らわしい (ambiguous, confusing, equivocal). (various references) | |
Japanese Katakana | まぎらわしい (ambiguous, confusing, equivocal). (various references) | |
Korean | 그릇 인도. (various references) | |
Manx | shaghrynagh (abberant, absent, bewildering, devious, disjointed, drifter, errant, stray, strayer, truant, wandering), meestiuragh (misguiding), drogh-leeideilagh, drogh-leeideil. (various references) | |
Pig Latin | isleadingmay.(various references) | |
Portuguese | ilusório (colorable, colourable, deceptive, delusive, elusive, skin-deep, specious, unreal). (various references) | |
Romanian | derutant (baffling). (various references) | |
Russian | вводящий в заблуждение (double-meaning), обманчивый (captious, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, delusory, double meaning, double-meaning, illusive, specious). (various references) | |
Serbo-Croatian | varljiv (fallacious, false, illusive, loaded, meretricious, specious, treacherous, tricky). (various references) | |
Spanish | engañoso (deceitful, deceiving, deceptive, delusive, delusory, dishonest, fallacious, false, guileful, treacherous, wrong). (various references) | |
Swedish | oriktiga eller förvanskade uppgifter (false or misleading information). (various references) | |
Turkish | yanıltıcı (captious, colorable, elusory, fallacious, illusive, illusory, perversive, specious, token), göz boyayıcı (colored, coloured, dazzler), göz boyama (eyewash, pitch), şaşırtma (confusing, dislocation, diversion, mystification). (various references) | |
Ukrainian | обманливий (captious, catchy, deceitful, deceptive, delusive, delusory, elusory, fallacious). (various references) | |
Vietnamese | l m cho lầm đường lạc lối lừa dối, l m cho lạc lối l m cho mê muội, l m cho lạc đường. (various references) | |
Welsh | camarweiniol. (various references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various translation references. | ||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | fallacem, fallacia, fallax. (various references) |
| Old English | 450-1100 | gedwolsum. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "misleading": misleadingly. (additional references) | |
| |
"Misleading" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: midleading, missleeding. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "misleading" (pronounced mi'slē"ding) |
| 5 | -l ē" d i ng | bleeding, leading, pleading. |
| 4 | -ē" d i ng | acceding, breeding, ceding, conceding, exceeding, feeding, heeding, impeding, inbreeding, interceding, kneading, misreading, needing, preceding, proceeding, receding, Reding, rereading, seceding, seeding, speeding, stampeding, succeeding, superseding, weeding. |
| 3 | -d i ng | applauding, apprehending, abounding, according, abiding, adding, affording, aiding, alluding, amending, ascending, astounding, attending, avoiding, awarding, backsliding, balding, banding, bedding, beheading, beholding, bending, bidding, biding, binding, blending, blinding, blockading, boarding, bombarding, bonding, bounding, braiding, branding, breading, brooding, budding, building, cascading, cheerleading, chiding, clouding, codding, coding, coinciding, colliding, colluding, commanding, commending, compounding, comprehending, concluding, condescending, confiding, confounding, contending, cording, corresponding, crowding, crusading, deciding, decoding, defending, defrauding, defunding, degrading, deluding, demanding, denuding, depending, deriding, descending, disbanding, discarding, disregarding, dividing, downgrading, downloading, dreading, eluding, encoding, ending, eroding, evading, excluding, expanding, expending, exploding, expounding, extending, extruding, fading, featherbedding, fending, feuding, Fielding, finding, flooding, folding, forbidding, foreboding, forwarding, founding, freestanding, funding, gadding, gilding, girding, Gladding, gliding, goading, Godding, grading, grandstanding, grinding, grounding, guarding, guiding, handholding, handing, heading, heralding, herding, hiding, hoarding, holding, hounding, impending, imploding, including, intending, intruding, invading, joyriding, kidding, lading, landholding, landing, lauding, lending, loading, longstanding, madding, marauding, masquerading, masterminding, Melding, mending, minding, misspending, misunderstanding, molding, moulding, nodding, nonbinding, nonbuilding, notwithstanding, offending, outbidding, outspending, outstanding, overbuilding, overcrowding, overextending, overfunding, overloading, overriding, overspending, padding, parading, pending, persuading, pervading, plodding, portending, pounding, precluding, presiding, pretending, prodding, proofreading, protruding, providing, pudding, punctuating, raiding, railroading, reading, rebounding, rebuilding, recommending, recording, Redding, refunding, regarding, relending, reminding, rending, rescinding, residing, resounding, responding, retarding, retreading, rewarding, ridding, riding, rodding, rounding, safeguarding, sanding, scaffolding, scalding, scolding, sending, serenading, shading, shedding, shepherding, shielding, shipbuilding, shredding, shrouding, siding, skateboarding, skidding, sledding, sliding, sounding, spearheading, spellbinding, spending, spreading, standing, stranding, striding, subsiding, surrounding, suspending, tending, threading, tiding, trading, transcending, treading, trending, unbending, underfunding, understanding, unending, unfolding, unloading, unwinding, unyielding, upgrading, upholding, upstanding, vending, voiding, wading, warding, wedding, welding, wending, wielding, Wilding, winding, withholding, withstanding, Wooding, wording, wounding, yielding. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
Direct Anagrams: misaligned, misdealing. | |
| Words within the letters "a-d-e-g-i-i-l-m-n-s" | |
-1 letter: gliadines. | |
-2 letters: alienism, amidines, dealings, deliming, demising, dialings, diamines, digamies, emailing, gliadine, gliadins, idealism, imagined, imagines, leadings, mailings, maligned, medaling, midlines, miladies, misalign, sideling, signaled. | |
-3 letters: aligned, amidine, amidins, dailies, dangles, dealing, degamis, denials, dialing, diamine, diamins, dingies, dingles, dislimn, eliding, engilds, enigmas, gamines, geminal, glandes, gliadin, imagine, ladings, lagends, leading, leasing, liaised. | |
| Words containing the letters "a-d-e-g-i-i-l-m-n-s" | |
+1 letter: mispleading. | |
+2 letters: misleadingly. | |
+3 letters: disassembling. | |
+5 letters: delegitimations, melodramatising. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Photo Album 7. Quotations: Familiar 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
