Disinforms

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To convey inaccurate or misleading information that results in confusion or error
2. The act of sharing false information with the intention to mislead or deceive others
3. To intentionally supply untrue or deceptive information to cause misunderstanding

Etymology: "Disinforms" is simply the third-person singular present form of "disinform," a verb that was formed by working backward from "disinformation." That noun came first, and the verb was created from it by removing the ending, a process linguists call back-formation. The verb, in turn, combines the prefix "dis-," meaning "reversed" or "against," with "inform," so that to disinform is to give information in a way that misleads rather than enlightens. The word's own history is therefore brief and the pieces are familiar. The "dis-" prefix and the verb "inform" were both already in English, and the noun "disinformation" was put together from them, with the verb "disinform" following after it. Anyone who uses the verb is working with a term built from the more established noun.

Synonyms: misleads, misinforms, deceives, misrepresents, deludes

Antonyms: informs, educates, enlightens, clarifies, explains