misguided

comparative more misguided · superlative most misguided

1. Of a person: lacking proper guidance; misled or mistaken in one's actions or thinking.

   Douglas looked on the body of the misguided youth, whose wild passions and caprices had brought him to this fatal and premature catastrophe.

   1828 May 15, [Walter Scott], chapter IX, in Chronicles of the Canongate. Second Series. […] (The Fair Maid of Perth), volume II, Edinburgh: […] [Ballantyne and Co.] for Cadell and Co.; London: Simpkin and Marshall, →OCLC, page 243

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   But I truſt I ſhall have ſpoken Perſvvaſion to abundance of ſenſible and ingenuous Men; […] to ſtay theſe ruinous Proceedings, juſtly and timely fearing to vvhat a Precipice of Deſtruction the deluge of this epidemic Madneſs vvould hurry us, through the general defection of a miſguided and abus'd Multitude.

   1660 February, John Milton, The Ready and Easy Way to Establish a Free Commonwealth, and the Excellence thereof, Compar’d with the Inconveniencies and Dangers of Readmitting Kingship in this Nation; republished in A Complete Collection of the Historical, Political, and Miscellaneous Works of John Milton, […], volume II, Amsterdam [actually London: s.n.], 1698, →OCLC, page 797

   An ambitious, or rather a miſguided, prince aroſe, vvho deemed all theſe privileges to be conceſſions of his predeceſſors, revokeable at pleaſure; and, in proſecution of this principle, he openly acted in violation of liberty, during the courſe of ſeveral years.

   1772, David Hume, “Essay VIII. Of the Parties of Great Britain.”, in Essays and Treatises on Several Subjects. […], new edition, volumes I (Essays, Moral, Political, and Literary), London: […] T[homas] Cadell, […]; Edinburgh: A[lexander] Kincaid, and A[lexander] Donaldson, →OCLC, part I, page 62

   [W]here in her theatrical character she was to sup off a roast fowl (O joy to Barbara!) some comic actor, who was for the night caterer for this dainty—in the misguided humour of his part, threw over the dish such a quantity of salt (O grief and pain of heart to Barbara!) that when he crammed a portion of it into her mouth, she was obliged sputteringly to reject it; […]

   1833, Elia [pseudonym; Charles Lamb], “Barbara S⁠——”, in The Last Essays of Elia. […], London: Edward Moxon, […], →OCLC, page 119

   When scientific power outruns moral power, we end up with guided missiles and misguided men. When we foolishly minimize the internal of our lives and maximize the external, we sign the warrant for our own day of doom.

   1967, Martin Luther King, Jr., “The World House”, in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?, New York, N.Y.: Harper & Row, →OCLC, page 172

   You're just a poor misguided fool / Who thinks they know what I should do / A line for me and a line for you / I lose my right to a point of view.

   2001 April–May (date recorded), “Poor Misguided Fool”, in Love Is Here, performed by Starsailor, [United Kingdom]: Chrysalis Records, published 8 October 2001, →OCLC

   Synonyms: erring, errant, off course, addle-pated, addled, addlepated, at a loss, at a loss for words · Antonyms: unmisguided

2. Of a plan, policy, etc.: not properly planned or thought through; ill-conceived.

   I believe in freedom of movement and view the current government's restrictive attitude as both socially and economically misguided. Yet I fear that a special London policy will only exacerbate existing divisions.

   2013 September 28, Kenan Malik, “London is special, but not that special”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 08 Oct 2025

3. obsoleteOf a government, etc.: mismanaged, misruled.
4. obsoleteOf a person: behaving badly; immoral.

   Fred[erick]. Traytor, doſt dravv upon thy Prince? / Cur[tius]. Your Pardon Sir, I meant it on a Raviſher. / A foul miſguided Villain. / One that ſcarce merits the brave name of Man. / One that betrays his friend, forſakes his VVife; / And vvould commit a Rape upon my Miſtreſs.

   1671, A[phra] Behn, The Amorous Prince, or, The Curious Husband. A Comedy, […], London: […] J[ohn] M[acock] for Thomas Dring, […], →OCLC, Act III, scene i, page 37

5. obsoletePoorly educated or trained.

   Select, also, and trail to the wall, a few scions from the old remaining branches, as an autumn supply—say one to every foot, and placed as if in fan-training. Thus misguided apple and pear-trees may be recovered in a very few years.

   1856, John Aiton, “The Lawn, Shrubbery, and Garden—Dress and Education of the Family”, in Clerical Economics: Or, Directions, Social, Rural, and Household, Showing How Ministers and Others of Limited Incomes may Raise the Whole Platform of Their Order. […], 2nd edition, Edinburgh: Johnstone & Hunter; London: Groombridge & Sons, →OCLC, page 300

1. participlepastsimple past and past participle of misguide