Synonyms of misleading

misleading 1 of 2

adjective

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

• deceptive
• false
• incorrect
• deceiving
• deceitful
• specious
• fallacious
• ambiguous
• delusive
• inaccurate
• beguiling
• delusory
• deluding
• fraudulent
• subtle
• perplexing
• dishonest
• trick
• puzzling
• tricky
• wrong
• cunning
• confounding
• crooked
• untruthful
• sneaky
• mendacious
• distracting
• lying
• wily
• untrustworthy
• slick
• shifty
• underhanded
• duplicitous
• artful
• crafty
• sly
• treacherous
• shady
• foxy
• subtile
• devious
• bogus
• spurious
• insidious
• underhand
• evasive
• bewildering
• counterfeit
• faithless
• artificial
• trickish
• fake
• hypocritical
• perfidious
• forged
• guileful
• equivocal
• insincere
• phony
• sham
• feigned
• dissembling
• ambidextrous
• defrauding
• knavish
• jive
• circuitous
• sneaking
• backhanded
• fast
• double-dealing
• two-faced
• left-handed

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• straightforward
• forthright
• direct
• plain
• frank
• open
• candid
• straight
• outspoken
• nondeceptive
• illuminating
• explanatory
• aboveboard
• revealing
• clarifying
• truthful
• revelatory
• plainspoken
• honest
• openhearted
• trustworthy
• free-spoken
• elucidative
• foursquare

misleading

2 of 2

verb

present participle of mislead

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

• deceiving
• tricking
• fooling
• misguiding
• misinforming
• kidding
• teasing
• deluding
• duping
• bamboozling
• beguiling
• suckering
• gulling
• hoaxing
• hoodwinking
• cheating
• humbugging
• bluffing
• stinging
• sucking in
• conning
• juggling
• spoofing
• cozening
• stringing along
• snookering
• taking in
• gaffing
• snowing
• faking out
• catching
• gammoning
• burning
• having on
• having
• hornswoggling
• buffaloing
• doing a number on
• pulling one's leg
• leading one down the garden path
• pulling the wool over one's eyes
• defrauding
• shortchanging
• swindling
• flimflamming
• sticking
• putting on
• fleecing
• bleeding
• mulcting
• hustling
• rooking
• diddling
• chiseling
• squeezing
• euchring
• skinning

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• revealing
• exposing
• debunking
• uncovering
• disclosing
• telling
• unmasking
• showing up
• undeceiving
• divulging
• disillusioning
• unveiling
• disabusing
• uncloaking
• disenchanting

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of misleading

Adjective

The women, many of whom were first-time surrogates, say they were given misleading or incomplete information about the couple’s family situation and intentions. — ABC News, 6 Oct. 2026

Low primary turnout can also lead to unexpected results – and these results can create misleading perceptions of the election. — Robert Boatright, The Conversation, 6 Oct. 2026

California’s existing prohibition on false or misleading environmental marketing remains in place, meaning apparel companies still face requirements to make truthful claims even without the bill’s additional verification framework. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 5 Oct. 2026

Black, who is a vice president at a software development company, is aware that chatbots sometimes hallucinate — that's when chatbots respond to prompts with false, misleading or fabricated answers. — Maham Javaid, NPR, 5 Oct. 2026

In the days since its release, Vang’s backers — including current and former Sacramento city council members — have criticized the ad as false and misleading. — Mathew Miranda, Sacbee.com, 2 Oct. 2026

An experimental artifact is a false or misleading result caused by the experiment itself rather than the phenomenon being studied. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 2 Oct. 2026

The company is now accusing Gupta of withholding proceeds, providing misleading accounts of the whereabouts of works in the collection, and attempting to substitute less valuable artworks for pieces owned by Longcraft, among other allegations. — News Desk, Artforum, 2 Oct. 2026

Organizations should avoid relying too heavily on attacker labels as these can be misleading. — Steve Durbin, Forbes.com, 1 Oct. 2026

Verb

The Detroit Free Press and other Michigan- and national-based media organizations have said the claims are misleading or lacking context. — Barnini Chakraborty, The Washington Examiner, 9 Oct. 2026

Trump, always sensitive to perceptions about popularity, has since resorted to misleading people about how well those speeches performed. — Brian Stelter, CNN Money, 8 Oct. 2026

Republican calls amendment misleading The campaign’s inclusion of gender-affirming care has renewed focus on that 2023 law, which Republican lawmakers passed amid a broader backlash to the transgender community nationally. — Kacen Bayless, Kansas City Star, 2 Oct. 2026

Many users express frustration with AI's inaccuracies, misleading information, and the intrusive nature of AI summaries. — Rob Pegoraro, Washington Post, 2 Oct. 2026

That comes after a jury found Meta liable for misleading the public about privacy protections. — Jason Gewirtz, CNBC, 1 Oct. 2026

Lembke encouraged parents to get ahead of the issue by talking openly about drugs before their children encounter inaccurate or misleading information on social media. — James Cirrone, FOXNews.com, 24 Sep. 2026

European Commission services said in June guidance that claims made through sustainability labels remain subject to other rules barring misleading commercial practices. — Alexandra Harrell, Footwear News, 21 Sep. 2026

Strekow, 24, has been charged or sued three times over his practices, including one case that resulted in a conviction for misleading a buyer while signing documents. — Steven Martinez, jsonline.com, 20 Sep. 2026