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misdirect

mis·di·rect
M m

Transcription

    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • UK Pronunciation
    • UK IPA
    • [mis-di-rekt]
    • /ˌmɪs dɪˈrɛkt/
    • /ˌmɪs.daɪˈrekt/
    • US Pronunciation
    • US IPA
    • [mis-di-rekt]
    • /ˌmɪs dɪˈrɛkt/

Definitions of misdirect word

  • verb with object misdirect to direct or address wrongly or incorrectly: to misdirect a person; to misdirect a letter. 1
  • noun misdirect Send (someone or something) to the wrong place or in the wrong direction. 1
  • transitive verb misdirect instruct sb wrongly 1
  • transitive verb misdirect attention, effort: focus on wrong goal 1
  • transitive verb misdirect magician: distract audience 1
  • transitive verb misdirect parcel: address incorrectly 1

Information block about the term

Origin of misdirect

First appearance:

before 1595
One of the 38% oldest English words
First recorded in 1595-1605; mis-1 + direct

Historical Comparancy

Parts of speech for Misdirect

noun
adjective
verb
adverb
pronoun
preposition
conjunction
determiner
exclamation

misdirect popularity

A pretty common term. Usually people know it’s meaning, but prefer to use a more spread out synonym. About 62% of English native speakers know the meaning and use word.
According to our data about 64% of words is more used. This is a rare but used term. It occurs in the pages of specialized literature and in the speech of educated people.

misdirect usage trend in Literature

This diagram is provided by Google Ngram Viewer

Synonyms for misdirect

verb misdirect

  • abuse — Abuse of someone is cruel and violent treatment of them.
  • blow — When a wind or breeze blows, the air moves.
  • blunder — A blunder is a stupid or careless mistake.
  • botch — If you botch something that you are doing, you do it badly or clumsily.
  • bungle — If you bungle something, you fail to do it properly, because you make mistakes or are clumsy.

Antonyms for misdirect

verb misdirect

  • handle — a part of a thing made specifically to be grasped or held by the hand.
  • manage — to bring about or succeed in accomplishing, sometimes despite difficulty or hardship: She managed to see the governor. How does she manage it on such a small income?
  • straighten — make straight
  • inform — to give or impart knowledge of a fact or circumstance to: He informed them of his arrival.
  • disgust — to cause loathing or nausea in.

Top questions with misdirect

  • what does misdirect mean?

See also

Matching words

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