misguided
/ˌmɪsˈɡaɪdɪd/ (bre, ipa) · /ˌmɪsˈɡaɪdɪd/ (ame, ipa) · /(ˌ)mis-ˈgī-dəd/ (ame, mw)
misguided — adjective
- misguidedpositive
- more misguidedcomparative
- most misguidedsuperlative
1. showing or done with poor thinking, often because the person was working from a
showing or done with poor thinking, often because the person was working from a false belief or weak understanding of the situation.
Mert thought his misguided diet of only fruit would help him build muscle quickly.
attributive: misguided + noun (plan, idea, attempt)
The mayor admitted that closing the only library was a misguided attempt to save money.
common collocation: misguided attempt / effort
Yumi was misguided in believing that working through every weekend would earn her a promotion.
Out of misguided loyalty, Rafael kept lending money to a friend who never repaid him.
Many parents now see strict screen-time bans as a well-meant but misguided rule for teenagers.
- ill-judged
more formal; stresses the failure of judgement itself rather than the false belief behind it
- mistaken
narrower — applies to a single belief or fact rather than a whole approach or plan
- ill-conceived
focuses on the planning stage; suggests the idea was flawed from the start
- wrong-headed
informal; stronger criticism, suggests stubbornness on top of bad reasoning
- sensible
everyday opposite — based on sound, practical thinking
- well-judged
formal opposite, often used of decisions and policies
用法筆記
Frequently attributive before abstract nouns like attempt, effort, belief, loyalty, or policy. The word implies the actor had honest motives but reached a wrong conclusion — distinguish from 'malicious' or 'careless', which name worse intent or no thought at all.