- misleading
- misleading, deceptive, delusive, delusory all mean having an appearance or character that leads one astray or into error.Misleading is the general term applicable to something which, intentionally or otherwise, leads one away from the right course or direction in thought or action and, therefore, into confusion or error{
the bare statement that "art is useless" is so vague as to be really meaningless, if not inaccurate and misleading— Ellis
}{it is not necessary to prove an injury to a competitor to stop misleading advertising; it may be stopped merely because it is unfair and deceptive— Fisk & Snapp
}Deceptive applies chiefly to things that by their aspect or appearance give a false impression; the term need not imply the intention to deceive{deceptive solemnity
}{a deceptive air of innocence
}{while the communication was deceptive and so intended, it was not technically mendacious— S.H. Adams
}Delusive and delusory, though otherwise similar to deceptive, carry a strong implication of befooling or cheating as well as misleading{delusive hopes
}{delusory promises
}{it is important for this Court to avoid extracting from the very general language of the Fourteenth Amendment a system of delusive exactness— Justice Holmes
}{arguments for universal selfishness seemed to fall short of complete proof and some of them appeared quite delusive and logically fallacious— Garvin
}{dangerously delusory habits of relying on industrial potential per se as a bulwark in war—C. B. Marshall
}
New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.
