How to Use misdirect in a Sentence

misdirect

verb
  • Their mail was misdirected to our address.
  • If he tells you he's not interested, he's trying to misdirect you.
  • Magritte’s world is a hall of mirrors, but even his mirrors misdirect.
    — Washington Post, 2 Dec. 2021
  • His fingers misdirected the blood flow but did nothing to stanch it.
    — Carly Tagen-Dye, PEOPLE, 15 Apr. 2026
  • Many others wondered whether the shooting would misdirect blame from their peers to them.
    — Kimmy Yam, NBC News, 30 Aug. 2023
  • The risk is even higher in war zones, where ships could be misdirected into harm’s way.
    — Anna Raymaker, The Conversation, 12 Mar. 2026
  • Does a prank involve planning and misdirect?
    — Emlyn Travis, Entertainment Weekly, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Now translucency is a design flourish, a way to direct or misdirect the eye.
    — Cecilia D'anastasio, Wired, 27 Apr. 2021
  • Commenters were quick to point out that her frustration was misdirected by being mad at the friend and not her boyfriend.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 18 Dec. 2025
  • The prey emits a glowing fluid or a cloud of sparks to misdirect the predator from its real location.
    — Liz Langley, National Geographic, 2 May 2019
  • However, Lannon was keen to stress that that anger was misdirected.
    — Mohammed Soliman, MSNBC Newsweek, 28 Apr. 2025
  • The criticism was sharp, loud, and misdirected.
    — Naz Beheshti, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
  • But that anger might be misdirected, because the Seahawks do invest in their linemen.
    — Matt Calkins, The Seattle Times, 28 Apr. 2017
  • But those questions are misdirected.
    — Harvard Business Review, 5 Nov. 2025
  • Like a skilled magician, authors must constantly misdirect, hint and tease.
    — Jd Barker, Rolling Stone, 12 July 2024
  • But the fact that these films have some high ambition doesn't negate that the ambition is largely misplaced, or at least misdirected.
    — Corey Atad, Esquire, 22 May 2017
  • Maybe the pandemic is revealing that the techlash was misdirected all along.
    — Elizabeth M. Renieris, Wired, 30 Apr. 2020
  • The play-fake followed by keeper/rollout action misdirected and slowed the Eagles’ four-man pass rush.
    — Rich Campbell, chicagotribune.com, 6 Nov. 2019
  • But some believe the club’s money and expertise is being misdirected.
    — Lila Seidman, Los Angeles Times, 27 Oct. 2024
  • When money is misdirected, working families and seniors pay the price.
    — Charlotte Observer, 14 Feb. 2026
  • But slight changes in percentages can misdirect from the absolute numbers, which are important.
    — Erik Sherman, Forbes, 8 Oct. 2021
  • Far greater resources and political will—albeit much of it misdirected—did not solve the previous war.
    — Alex De Waal, Foreign Affairs, 18 Sep. 2023
  • Born had been running fifth late in the race, when the group of women well ahead of her with about a mile to go was misdirected off the course by an official race vehicle.
    — Bill Chappell, NPR, 5 Mar. 2026
  • So the incentives there that apply on the athlete are really misdirected.
    — Michael S. Schmidt, New York Times, 6 Apr. 2025
  • To fight the infection, the body produces inflammation, which may be misdirected to the nerve that controls movement of the face.
    — Sarah Klein, PEOPLE.com, 26 July 2017
  • The brunt of viral replication might be over, leaving the immune frenzy to misdirect much of its havoc onto our own tissues instead.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 4 Aug. 2022
  • Skeptics say that can't be proven and the rapidly expanding program tramples on privacy and misdirects money.
    — Allie Gross, Detroit Free Press, 20 Apr. 2018
  • The gameplay rewards cunning and deception with the freedom to pass more than once behind the line of scrimmage and misdirect opponents.
    — Gieson Cacho, Star Tribune, 9 Sep. 2020
  • Three players devised a plan to misdirect the other players and blindside one of them at Tribal Council.
    — Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Over the last two decades, Walker has been attacked by critics for reproducing racist tropes, but that outrage is misdirected.
    — Jenna Wortham, New York Times, 26 Apr. 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'misdirect.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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