lead someone up the garden path
/ˈliːd ˌsʌmwʌn ˈʌp ðə ˈɡɑːdn̩ pɑːθ/
"lead-someone-up-the-garden-path" is a 26-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“lead someone up the garden path” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- Unranked
- below top-frequency English
- 31
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To deceive, hoodwink, mislead, or seduce someone.
Corpus desk
Index EN-lead-someone-up-the-gard · lead someone up the garden path · English
lead someone up the garden path · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
- LEN-MEGA 31 letters
- VOW-11 11 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-THIN "L" thin
- PHOTO-UNK Peer pending
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | lead someone up the garden path |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /ˈliːd ˌsʌmwʌn ˈʌp ðə ˈɡɑːdn̩ pɑːθ/ |
| Letters | 31 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “lead someone up the garden path” in English
Rare enough to double-check
lead someone up the garden path is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb, transcribed /ˈliːd ˌsʌmwʌn ˈʌp ðə ˈɡɑːdn̩ pɑːθ/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To deceive, hoodwink, mislead, or seduce someone.".
lead someone up the garden path has no tracked misspelling variants, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, which typically means the spelling is too distinctive to be mistaken for another word.
Etymologically, the entry records: Probably a reference to the fact that a garden path is often winding instead of direct. The correct English form is lead someone up the garden path, spelled L-E-A-D- -S-O-M-E-O-N-E- -U-P- -T-H-E- -G-A-R-D-E-N- -P-A-T-H.
Definition
- 1To deceive, hoodwink, mislead, or seduce someone.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how lead someone up the garden path appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
"You're a pair of conspiring females," he growled. "A fine couple of contriving minxes! You've even led my Peterkin up the garden path."
Etymology
Probably a reference to the fact that a garden path is often winding instead of direct.
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.