misguided

1 of 2

adjective

mis·​guid·​ed (ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd How to pronounce misguided (audio)
Synonyms of misguided
: led or prompted by wrong or inappropriate motives or ideals
well-meaning but misguided do-gooders
misguidedly
(ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd-lē How to pronounce misguided (audio)
adverb
misguidedness
(ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd-nəs How to pronounce misguided (audio)
noun

misguided

2 of 2

past tense and past participle of misguide

Examples of misguided in a Sentence

Adjective She's been getting a lot of bad advice from misguided friends. He blames the crisis on the government's misguided economic policies. a misguided attempt to help
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Adjective
That’s no problem for them, because the failures occur years after the discussions, minimizing the political risk to those who voted for these misguided plans. — Torrey Snow, Baltimore Sun, 19 Aug. 2026 Treating the employment relationship as static is as misguided as treating any long-term relationship as fixed. — Susan Lamotte, Forbes.com, 18 Aug. 2026 That thinking led to lesser designs such as a misguided remake of Paradise Pier into Pixar Pier at California Adventure, in which Pixar characters are basically treated as decals. — Todd Martens, Los Angeles Times, 18 Aug. 2026 But when disastrous dates, suspicious children and spectacularly misguided attempts at ‘conscious uncoupling’ throw their perfect plan into chaos, Clarissa and Franklin discover that getting divorced is the easy part. — Alex Ritman, Variety, 17 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for misguided

Word History

First Known Use

Adjective

1500, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of misguided was in 1500

Rhymes for misguided

See All Rhymes for misguided

Browse Nearby Words

misguide
misguided
mishandle
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Misguided.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/misguided. Accessed 27 Aug. 2026.

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