mislead | Search Online Etymology Dictionary

19 entries found.

Old English mislædan "to lead or guide wrongly," especially "to draw into error," a common Germanic compound (compare Middle Low German, Middle Dutch misleiden, Old High German misseleiten, German missleiten, Danish mislede); see mis- (1) + lead (v.). Related: misleading; misled.

misleading (adj.)

"tending to lead astray, deceptive," 1630s, present-participle adjective from mislead. Related: Misleadingly.

dupe (v.)

"to deceive, trick, mislead by imposing on one's credulity," 1704, from dupe (n.). Related: Duped; duping.

deceitful (adj.)

"full of deceit, tending to mislead," mid-15c., from deceit + -ful. Earlier in the same sense was deceivant (late 14c.). Related: Deceitfully; deceitfulness.

gull (v.)

"to dupe, cheat, mislead by deception," 1540s, earlier "to swallow" (1520s), ultimately from gull "throat, gullet" (early 15c.); see gullet. Related: Gulled; gulling.

hoodwink (v.)

1560s, "to blindfold, blind by covering the eyes," from hood (n.1) + wink (n.); figurative sense of "blind the mind, mislead, deceive by disguise" is c. 1600. Related: Hoodwinked; hoodwinking.

delude (v.)

"deceive, impose upon, mislead the mind or judgment of," c. 1400, from Latin deludere "to play false; to mock, deceive," from de- "down, to one's detriment" (see de-) + ludere "to play" (see ludicrous). Related: Deluded; deluding.

Mislead means to lead wrong, whether with or without design. Delude always, at least figuratively, implies intention to deceive, and that means are used for that purpose. We may be misled through ignorance and in good faith, but we are deluded by false representations. A person may delude himself. [Century Dictionary]

deceive (v.)

"mislead by false appearance or statement," c. 1300, from Old French decevoir "to deceive" (12c., Modern French décevoir), from Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, beguile, cheat," from de "from" or pejorative (see de-) + combining form of capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp." Related: Deceived; deceiver; deceiving.

bluff (v.)

1839, "to deceive (opponents), especially by betting heavily and with a confident air on a worthless hand to make them 'fold,'" an American English poker term, perhaps from Dutch bluffen "to brag, boast," or verbluffen "to baffle, mislead." The general sense "use a show of confident assurance to deceive an opponent as to one's real resources or strength" is by 1854. Related: Bluffed; bluffing.

An identical word meant "blindfold, hoodwink" in 1670s, but the sense evolution and connection are unclear; OED calls it "one of the numerous cant terms ... which arose between the Restoration and the reign of Queen Anne."

deceptive (adj.)

"tending to mislead or give false impression," 1610s, from French deceptif (late 14c.), from Medieval Latin deceptivus, from decept-, past participle stem of Latin decipere "to ensnare, take in, beguile, cheat," from de "from" or pejorative (see de-) + capere "to take," from PIE root *kap- "to grasp."

In this sense in English it superseded deceptious (c. 1600), from French deceptieux, from Medieval Latin deceptiosus, from deceptionem; also deceptory (mid-15c.), from Latin deceptorious. Related: Deceptively; deceptiveness.

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