as in switcheroo
US
a selling method in which a customer is attracted by the advertisement of a low-priced product but then is encouraged to buy a more expensive one
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Recent Examples of bait and switch
With the sudden reveal that most of these kids aren’t our heroes after all, Welcome to Derry delivers a stunning bait and switch.
—
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2025
Democrats worry there's a chance this option is a bait and switch, Grisales says.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
In the end, the comedic payoff often comes from the fact that the Truth Teller’s work isn’t very good—a curious bait and switch, if the show truly does aspire to prove the worth of dogged, ethical accountability reporting.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025
This subtle bait and switch from a national identity crisis to a personal identity crisis is imaginative and, for a time, intriguing, with Gadebois doing some very heavy lifting as the bad guy that means well but, nevertheless, behaves appallingly.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bait and switch
Louis Peitzman, Vulture, 27 Oct. 2025
Democrats worry there's a chance this option is a bait and switch, Grisales says.
—Brittney Melton, NPR, 3 Oct. 2025
In the end, the comedic payoff often comes from the fact that the Truth Teller’s work isn’t very good—a curious bait and switch, if the show truly does aspire to prove the worth of dogged, ethical accountability reporting.
—Jon Allsop, New Yorker, 5 Sep. 2025
This subtle bait and switch from a national identity crisis to a personal identity crisis is imaginative and, for a time, intriguing, with Gadebois doing some very heavy lifting as the bad guy that means well but, nevertheless, behaves appallingly.
—Damon Wise, Deadline, 28 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for bait and switch
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bait and switch
Noun
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Mini Kim and mini Khloé pulled a switcheroo with their T-shirts — a favorite pastime of theirs, according to Khloé, who posted this adorable pic.—
Andrea Wurzburger,
PEOPLE,
15 Jan. 2026
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Democrats demanded immediate action in both chambers, calling the president’s switcheroo a reflection of the widespread bipartisan support for transparency around the Epstein case.—
Dave Goldiner,
Boston Herald,
17 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Head coach Curt Cignetti has left the college football world breathless with a dramatic turnaround of the Hoosiers program, going from one of the losingest teams in the Big 10 to potentially the most dominant single-season of all time.—
Jackson Thompson,
FOXNews.com,
10 Jan. 2026
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In the meantime, the Lake Worth school district will operate as normal and focus on implementing a comprehensive turnaround plan focused on foundational literacy and math, officials said.—
Samuel O'Neal,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
9 Jan. 2026
Noun
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This method depends on the fact that Earth’s magnetic field flip-flops every few hundred thousand years.—
Stephanie Pappas,
Scientific American,
7 Jan. 2026
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The weather flip-flop looks set to continue into January, with afternoon peak temps this week approaching 80 degrees, while morning lows next weekend drop back into the 30s and 40s.—
Mary Wasson,
Austin American Statesman,
4 Jan. 2026
Noun
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The rapid turnabout raises questions about the status of the investigation and the community’s safety three days after a suspect opened fire on the Ivy League campus, killing two students and injuring nine others.—
Eric Levenson,
CNN Money,
16 Dec. 2025
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That decline, a sharp turnabout from October, was led by businesses with fewer than 50 workers, which saw their payroll numbers sink by 120,000.—
Kevin Breuninger,
CNBC,
3 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The duo’s renunciation has its limits, though.—
Rebecca Mead,
New Yorker,
8 Dec. 2025
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The Court held that Congress has no power under the Constitution to divest a person of his United States citizenship absent his voluntary renunciation of it.—
Khaleda Rahman,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Dec. 2025
Noun
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The Kremlin has denied any such request was made, which tells you something about how Moscow views the optics of this diplomatic volte-face.—
Bobby Ghosh,
Time,
22 Dec. 2025
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Adding to his administration’s volte-face, Biden was on the verge of a big bang in the U.S.-Saudi relationship when Hamas derailed the effort with its October 7, 2023, attack on Israel.—
Dana L. Stroul,
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
Noun
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Subscriptions like Billie cover this for you without a second thought.—
Sabina Wizemann,
Good Housekeeping,
30 Nov. 2022
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In America, the allure of material comfort is accepted without a second thought.—
Sarah Zhang,
The Atlantic,
20 Nov. 2022
Noun
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The unraveling of climate catastrophism got another jolt recently with the formal retraction of a high-profile 2024 study published in the journal .—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
5 Dec. 2025
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Nature posted a retraction of it Wednesday.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
3 Dec. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bait and switch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bait%20and%20switch. Accessed 15 Jan. 2026.
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