misguide

verb

"misguide" is a 8-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.

The verdict

“misguide” is uncommon English (outside the top frequency list), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.

Unranked
below top-frequency English
8
letters

According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To guide poorly or incorrectly; to lead astray or into error.

Corpus desk

Index EN-misguide · misguide · English

misguide · unranked · 0 variants · 0 confusables

  • FREQ-UNRANKED Unranked
  • LEN-LONG 8 letters
  • VOW-4 4 vowels
  • CONFUS-0 No pairs
  • VAR-0 0 variants
  • BOOK-THIN "M" 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.

Key facts for misguide
PropertyValue
Headwordmisguide
LanguageEnglish
Part of speechVerb
Letters8
Misspellings tracked0
Confusable pairs0
SourceWiktionary (kaikki.org)

Long-tail rank of “misguide” in English

misguideranks outside the top 100,000 English headwords, in the long tail of specialist, archaic, or seldom-used vocabulary, exactly the territory where a reader stops mid-sentence to double-check spelling.

Beyond rank #100,000. Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list.

Rare enough to double-check

misguide is uncommon English outside the top frequency list, classed as averb. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. Gloss: "To guide poorly or incorrectly; to lead astray or into error.".

Zero misspellings are on record for misguide in our index, typically a sign the spelling maps closely to how the word sounds. 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: From mis- + guide. The correct English form is misguide, spelled M-I-S-G-U-I-D-E.

Definition

  1. 1
    To guide poorly or incorrectly; to lead astray or into error.

Recorded use

Wiktionary examples

These source excerpts show how misguide appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.

  1. On the whole it were better to misguide a child in knowledge, which it can remedy later, than to mistone it in feeling, for which there is no remedy. A jarring note implanted in its nature might spoil the music of its life […]
  2. 1988, Michael Weikath, "Keeper of the Seven Keys", Helloween, Keeper of the Seven Keys: Part II. Will o' the wisps / Misguiding your path / You can't throw a curse / Without takin' their wrath

Etymology

From mis- + guide.

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.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you spell "misguide"?
"misguide" is spelled M-I-S-G-U-I-D-E.
What does "misguide" mean?
As a verb, "misguide" means: To guide poorly or incorrectly; to lead astray or into error.
What is the origin of the word "misguide"?
From mis- + guide. See the full etymology section above for more details.
Is PlainSpell free to use?
Yes, PlainSpell is a completely free word reference. You can look up definitions, pronunciations, confusable pairs, homophones, and spelling corrections across 5 languages without any sign-up or subscription.

Source: Wiktionary (via kaikki.org) Structured Wiktionary extract

Source: FrequencyWords open word-frequency list