as in deceptive
tending or having power to deceive
the misleading text of the advertisement would like you to believe that you're getting something for nothing
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in deceiving
to cause to believe what is untrue
the coral snake's attractive colors can mislead you into thinking that it is harmless
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of misleading
Chris McKeown, Cincinnati Enquirer, 14 Feb. 2026
Government officials have defended officers’ actions as necessary and justified, while giving misleading or false accounts of some clashes.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
The clerk’s attorneys moved to dismiss the charges on the basis that the indictment was procured through false and misleading testimony, among other grounds.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
District officials said student performance data was not included as a factor in creating the original proposals, calling such data misleading when assessing school quality.
—Molly Gibbs, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
By the end of his first term, The Washington Post had documented 30,573 false or misleading claims.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Feb. 2026
But that shot total was misleading as far as the kind of quality looks Rantanen feels his team will need moving forward.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
The affidavit relies on misleading and already-disproven claims about the 2020 election.
—Stephen Fowler, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
But these performances can also be misleading.
—Dana Santas, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 9 Feb. 2026
There is also a federal class-action lawsuit filed by former members that accuses Gateway and Robert Morris of failing to honor promises to give 15% of donations to global missions and misleading congregants with assurances of refunds.
—Giles Hudson, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
Clinicians must stop misleading patients and families with scientifically unfounded claims regarding suicide.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 7 Feb. 2026
OpenAI executives, including Sam Altman, quickly hit back and accused Anthropic’s ads of being misleading and criticized their competitor’s business model.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
That comes amid another federal lawsuit targeting Fiserv for allegedly misleading shareholders.
—Tom Daykin, jsonline.com, 28 Jan. 2026
For Carr, the question then becomes how to get there without gaming the system in a way that’s misleading to customers.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 27 Jan. 2026
After a report filed by the Office of the Child Advocate last year recommended tightening state oversight for homeschoolers, several advocacy groups and parents are now criticizing the report as misleading and pushing a political narrative.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026
On Friday, Tesla discontinued its Autopilot system, a move that arrives after California's Department of Motor Vehicles accused the company of misleading advertising and called on the automaker to correct it.
—Andrea Guzmán, Austin American Statesman, 23 Jan. 2026
Adjective
In my opinion, this was very misleading because there was no mention of what levels of fertilizer used would cause these outcomes.
—Chris McKeown, Cincinnati Enquirer, 14 Feb. 2026
Government officials have defended officers’ actions as necessary and justified, while giving misleading or false accounts of some clashes.
—Natasha Korecki, NBC news, 14 Feb. 2026
The clerk’s attorneys moved to dismiss the charges on the basis that the indictment was procured through false and misleading testimony, among other grounds.
—Charles Selle, Chicago Tribune, 13 Feb. 2026
District officials said student performance data was not included as a factor in creating the original proposals, calling such data misleading when assessing school quality.
—Molly Gibbs, Mercury News, 11 Feb. 2026
By the end of his first term, The Washington Post had documented 30,573 false or misleading claims.
—Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 11 Feb. 2026
But that shot total was misleading as far as the kind of quality looks Rantanen feels his team will need moving forward.
—Mark Lazerus, New York Times, 11 Feb. 2026
The affidavit relies on misleading and already-disproven claims about the 2020 election.
—Stephen Fowler, NPR, 10 Feb. 2026
But these performances can also be misleading.
—Dana Santas, CNN Money, 10 Feb. 2026
Verb
The agency requested that the drugmaker take immediate action to address the violations, which could include ceasing all ads containing misleading claims.
—Annika Kim Constantino, CNBC, 9 Feb. 2026
There is also a federal class-action lawsuit filed by former members that accuses Gateway and Robert Morris of failing to honor promises to give 15% of donations to global missions and misleading congregants with assurances of refunds.
—Giles Hudson, CBS News, 7 Feb. 2026
Clinicians must stop misleading patients and families with scientifically unfounded claims regarding suicide.
—Torie Bosch, STAT, 7 Feb. 2026
OpenAI executives, including Sam Altman, quickly hit back and accused Anthropic’s ads of being misleading and criticized their competitor’s business model.
—Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 6 Feb. 2026
That comes amid another federal lawsuit targeting Fiserv for allegedly misleading shareholders.
—Tom Daykin, jsonline.com, 28 Jan. 2026
For Carr, the question then becomes how to get there without gaming the system in a way that’s misleading to customers.
—Alexandra Harrell, Sourcing Journal, 27 Jan. 2026
After a report filed by the Office of the Child Advocate last year recommended tightening state oversight for homeschoolers, several advocacy groups and parents are now criticizing the report as misleading and pushing a political narrative.
—Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 26 Jan. 2026
On Friday, Tesla discontinued its Autopilot system, a move that arrives after California's Department of Motor Vehicles accused the company of misleading advertising and called on the automaker to correct it.
—Andrea Guzmán, Austin American Statesman, 23 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for misleading
Adjective
-
Savings are only on brand names, which can be deceptive when comparing prices.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
10 Feb. 2026
-
Novo has so far filed around 130 lawsuits dealing with deceptive marketing practices and consumer fraud, Kuckelman said.—
Annika Kim Constantino,
CNBC,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Your eyes aren't deceiving you.—
Jessica Farthing,
Southern Living,
8 Feb. 2026
-
The final score is a bit deceiving, as Pittsburgh led by 18 before the Cowboys rallied near the end.—
Greg Rajan,
Houston Chronicle,
6 Feb. 2026
Adjective
-
Authorities did not provide additional details about the agents' apparently false statements.—
Nicole Acevedo,
NBC news,
13 Feb. 2026
-
Nevertheless, Worden continued to promote the false claim to news outlets and hired a media consultant to amplify it, the documents said.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
13 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Prompt injection is a method of tricking LLMs into doing things they are normally prevented from doing.—
Bruce Schneier,
IEEE Spectrum,
21 Jan. 2026
-
While cold can damage plants, weather that’s too warm too soon can also have a negative effect on bulbs by tricking them into sprouting early.—
Andrea Beck,
Better Homes & Gardens,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
Indeed, depth would only get in the way of the plot, which is primarily concerned with fooling you and fooling you again.—
Television Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Feb. 2026
-
Watching Bedard break ankles on a nightly basis like Allen Iverson on skates, attempting one-man rushes most players couldn’t even fathom, fooling elite goaltenders with his patented drag-and-drive release, is exhilarating.—
Mark Lazerus,
New York Times,
3 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Misleading.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/misleading. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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