lead astray

• Audio (Southern England):

  (file)

lead astray (third-person singular simple present leads astray, present participle leading astray, simple past and past participle led astray)

1. (transitive) To cause (someone) to believe an untruth.

   Synonyms: deceive, mislead, misinform; see also Thesaurus:deceive

2. (transitive) To misguide or misdirect.

   Synonyms: lead off, offlead, undirect

   • 1960 March, N. Caplan, “A Railway Member of Parliament”, in Railway Magazine, page 207:

     To previous resentment of the wide acceptance socially of [George] Hudson was added the venom of those whose cupidity had led them astray.

3. (transitive) To influence (someone) to have bad habits or to behave improperly or illegally.

   Synonyms: corrupt, demoralize, seduce; see also Thesaurus:pervert

• go astray