misguided

Adjective

misguided (comparative more misguided, superlative most misguided)

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

   Synonyms:

   erring, errant, off course, addle-pated, addled, addlepated, at a loss, at a loss for words, at sea, at sixes and sevens

   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. (obsolete) Of a government, etc.: mismanaged, misruled.
4. (obsolete) Of 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. (obsolete) Poorly 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...