as in to tempt
to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage
a con man whose dupes are usually led on by their own greed and eagerness to turn an easy buck
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for lead on
Verb
-
Some may be tempted to quote Warren Buffett as a counterpoint, who was famously skeptical on the utility of gold.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
8 Oct. 2025 -
Like some of the other band members, he was tempted to follow.—
Ivan Kashinsky,
NPR,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Amid the hangover of the 0-4 start, students shuffled out their dorms, lured by free food and faint promise of school spirit at the Rose Bowl.—
Cameron Teague Robinson,
New York Times,
5 Oct. 2025
-
Built at a cost of $29 billion, the railway is meant to help lure visitors away from coastal hot spots like Cancún and to create jobs and development opportunities in a region that has long been one of the poorest in Mexico.—
Simon Willis,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
The novel opens as the teenage Karl Rossmann, whose parents shipped him off to America for fathering a child when he was seduced by the family’s thirty-five-year-old cook, arrives on a steamer in New York harbor and sees the Statue of Liberty holding not the emblematic torch but rather a sword.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
6 Oct. 2025
-
Her distinctive style stance has seduced the likes of Addison Rae, Ice Spice, Kylie Jenner, Hari Nef, Selena Gomez, Hailey Bieber, Chloë Sevigny and Sarah Jessica Parker.—
Alex Wynne,
Footwear News,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Nevertheless, when issues on mass transit occurred, the city could persuade PTC to improve conditions, but the city was only required to offer emergency services to commuters.—
Menika Dirkson,
The Conversation,
3 Oct. 2025
-
The message sought to persuade the public to take measures to eliminate the spread of COVID-19.—
Molly Beck,
jsonline.com,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
In early September, Jakarta police alleged that some TikTok users purposefully broadcast live during the violence to entice viewers into giving them gifts or virtual prizes that can be exchanged for cash.—
Chad de Guzman,
Time,
6 Oct. 2025
-
There's something wicked about building horror movies around toys, dolls, and other kid-friendly touchstones; they're bound to entice (and potentially scar) curious young audiences more than usual.—
Randall Colburn,
Entertainment Weekly,
6 Oct. 2025
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Cite this Entry
“Lead on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lead%20on. Accessed 12 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share