Spanish Conversation · Level 10
88 words
Spanish word
despistar
Pronunciation
IPA/despisˈtaɾ/
Meaning
- verbmislead
Example
El sospechoso dejó huellas falsas para despistar a la policía.
The suspect left false footprints to mislead the police.
More examples
El mago intentó despistar al público con una distracción.
The magician tried to throw the audience off with a distraction.
Core concept
A false trail that sends trackers the wrong way.
Common phrases
despistar a alguien
throw someone off
despistar a la policía
throw the police off
Similar words
confundir: Creates confusion or ambiguous information that makes judgment difficult.
distraer: Diverts attention toward something else so the original focus is missed.
desviar: Changes the direction or path of something so it follows a different course.
Definition in Spanish
Hacer que alguien pierda la pista o la orientación para causar confusión o impedir que descubra algo.
Word origin
From Spanish des- 'away' plus pista 'track, clue', originally meaning to lead someone off the track and so to mislead.
Usage tips
- Despistar is normally transitive with a person as object (despistar a alguien) to mean leading someone off the trail, while the pronominal despistarse means to lose focus or become absent-minded.
Other meanings
- confuseverb
- distractverb
- deceiveverb
Related words
- despistemomentary lapsenoun
- despistadodistractedadjective