misleading
/(ˌ)mɪsˈliːdɪŋ/adjective, noun, verb
misleading is spelled M-I-S-L-E-A-D-I-N-G: 10 letters and 3 syllables. It appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, misleading means “Deceptive or tending to mislead or create a false impression, even if technically true” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in misleading?
| Letters | 10: M-I-S-L-E-A-D-I-N-G |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | 7.9 times per million words; the 8,266th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is misleading?
Misleading appears 7.9 times per million words in written English, the 8,266th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce misleading?
- /(ˌ)mɪsˈliːdɪŋ/
Misleading has 3 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Persent101-misleading.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of misleading
- more misleading comparative
- most misleading superlative
- misleadings plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does misleading mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Deceptive or tending to mislead or create a false impression, even if technically true.
noun
- 1
A deception that misleads.
verb
- 1
present participle and gerund of mislead
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Misleading in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tending to mislead:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | trompeur |
| German | irreführend, missverständlich, verwirrend |
| Portuguese | enganoso, ilusório |
| Spanish | engañoso, despistante, delusorio, descaminante, desencaminante |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does misleading come from?
From mislead + -ing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).