Misleading

adjective

Frequency

High

CEFR Level

Neutral

Domain

Deception

Definition

1. Causing someone to believe something that is not true.
2. Giving a wrong idea or impression.

Context Alive

The hotel looked beautiful in the online photos. But those pictures turned out to be completely misleading — the rooms were tiny, the pool was empty, and the “ocean view” was actually a parking lot. They wished they had read the reviews first.

Meanings

1 meaning

1 Causing Someone to Believe Something Untrue (Adjective) Very Common ▼

This meaning is about something that makes you believe a wrong idea. Imagine reading a food label that says “all natural ingredients” and thinking it’s healthy. But when you check the details, it’s full of sugar and chemicals — the label was misleading. This is something misleading — it creates a false impression. You might say “the advertisement was misleading” or someone could complain “the statistics were presented in a misleading way.” Or picture a job posting that promises a “competitive salary” but actually pays minimum wage. The word carries a sense of dishonesty or unfairness. ✏️ Unlike “lying,” misleading doesn’t always mean someone did it on purpose — sometimes information is misleading by accident.

Vivid Example

The company promised “unlimited data” in all their ads. But customers quickly discovered the plan had a hidden limit after just five gigabytes. Thousands of people filed complaints, calling the marketing deeply misleading and demanding refunds.

Examples from the Street

“That job advert was so misleading — they made it sound like a management role, but it’s basically data entry.”

That vacancy posting was so deceptive — they described it as if it were a senior position, but it’s really just typing numbers into a system

“The photos on the hotel website were really misleading — the rooms were half the size they looked online.”

The images on the accommodation site gave a totally false impression — the spaces were much smaller than they appeared on screen

“Don’t take the headline at face value — it’s misleading.”

Don’t believe what the title says without reading further — it gives you the wrong idea

Common Patterns

misleading information/data/statistics → facts presented in a way that creates a wrong conclusion

misleading advertising/marketing → promotional content that tricks consumers

misleading headline/title → a heading that doesn’t accurately reflect the content

misleading claims/statements → assertions that give people a false idea

be misleading → create a wrong impression, whether deliberately or not

highly/deeply/grossly misleading → extremely deceptive; a very strong criticism

potentially/somewhat misleading → could give the wrong idea, but not necessarily intentional

deliberately/intentionally misleading → designed to deceive on purpose

at best misleading → even in the most charitable interpretation, it gives a false picture

a misleading impression/picture → an overall understanding that doesn’t match reality

misleading appearance/name → a look or label that suggests something different from the truth

find something misleading → personally feel that something gives the wrong idea

Collocations

3 collocations

misleading information

data that gives a wrong impression

misleading headline

a title that distorts the real story

deliberately misleading

intentionally designed to deceive

Example Sentences

12 examples

The company was fined for publishing misleading advertising that exaggerated the product’s effectiveness

The business was penalised for releasing deceptive promotional material that overstated how well the item actually worked.

The misleading statistics in the report made the problem look far less serious than it actually was

The inaccurately presented numbers in the document made the issue appear much smaller than its true scale.

That misleading headline made it sound like the entire hospital was closing, when only one department was affected

That deceptive title gave the impression that the whole medical facility was shutting down, when in reality just a single ward was impacted.

Several customers complained that the misleading claims on the label promised results that the product never delivered

A number of buyers protested that the false assertions on the packaging guaranteed outcomes that the item completely failed to produce.

The graph isn’t wrong, but the way it’s scaled is misleading — it makes a tiny increase look enormous

The chart isn’t factually incorrect, but the way the measurements are set up gives a false picture — it turns a small rise into what looks like a massive jump.

The government’s statement was described as grossly misleading by opposition leaders and independent fact-checkers

The administration’s announcement was labelled as extremely deceptive by rival politicians and neutral verification organisations.

The survey results are potentially misleading because only a very small number of people were asked

The poll’s findings could give a wrong impression because the sample group was far too small to represent the wider population.

His calm tone was deliberately misleading — behind the scenes, the company was in complete chaos

His relaxed way of speaking was carefully designed to create a false sense of security — in reality, the business was falling apart internally.

The film’s trailer gave a misleading impression — it looked like a comedy, but it was actually a dark psychological thriller

The preview for the movie painted a completely wrong picture — it appeared to be a funny, light-hearted film, but it turned out to be an intense, disturbing suspense story.

I found the restaurant’s description online quite misleading — “cosy neighbourhood bistro” turned out to be a noisy basement with plastic chairs

I felt the eatery’s write-up on the internet was pretty deceptive — what was described as a warm, friendly local spot was actually a loud underground space with cheap seating.

Learner Examples

★

Some textbook exercises can be misleading — they teach grammar rules as absolute, when in real conversation native speakers break them all the time

Certain coursebook activities can give a false picture — they present language structures as fixed and unbreakable, when in actual spoken English first-language speakers ignore them constantly.

★

A high test score can be misleading — it might show that a student is good at exams, but it doesn’t prove they can actually communicate effectively in the real world

A strong result on an assessment can create a wrong impression — it may demonstrate that a learner performs well under formal conditions, but it’s no guarantee they can express themselves properly in everyday situations.