as in tempting
to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage
tacky souvenir shops to which first-time tourists had been decoyed into spending their hard-earned money
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decoying
Verb
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In a sponsor category long dominated by two giants, the athleisure maker joins a wave of challengers tempting star players with opportunities for creative input—and lucrative financial terms.—
Matt Craig,
Forbes.com,
22 Aug. 2025 -
That is an obvious but nevertheless tempting play with Burrow and the first-string offense in action.—
Tyler Everett,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Police arrested a person suspected of kidnapping a man after luring him to a location with promises of a photography session.—
Sally Krutzig,
Idaho Statesman,
8 Sep. 2025
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This is because Curaçao has a rich legacy of live performance, with such local genres as ritmo kombina and tumba luring locals into small clubs packed with full-on mini orchestras.—
Baz Dreisinger,
Forbes.com,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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But after Davina publicly accuses Julia mid-labor of seducing Lord Lovat, the group of women suddenly turn on Julia, yelling at her to repent her sins and repeatedly questioning her about the paternity of her child.—
Max Gao,
HollywoodReporter,
5 Sep. 2025
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The drama follows Veneno (played by non-pro Víctor Miguel), a headstrong young drifter who survives by seducing truck drivers at 24-hour roadside diners called cachimbas.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
25 Aug. 2025
Verb
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There are tons of enticing cold and hot drinks.—
Michael Deeds,
Idaho Statesman,
9 Sep. 2025
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The company, which started in 1947 in Conecuh County, Alabama, has a potent combination of enticing hickory smoke and a patented blend of seasonings that set their products apart from the usual offerings in the grocery-store meat case.—
Libby Monteith Minor,
Southern Living,
30 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But much like Howard Jarvis feared, the tax-and-spend interests have sought to destroy Proposition 13 ever since, most recently by persuading courts to carve loopholes in its constitutional protections and invent new ways for government agencies to raise revenue.—
Jon Coupal,
Oc Register,
7 Sep. 2025
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Elizabeth Stage, whose Oakland hills home barely escaped the deadly 1991 firestorm, and whose work as president of the Oakland FireSafe Council involves persuading residents to adopt Zone 0 measures, said the study would be a helpful, persuasive tool.—
Ethan Baron,
Mercury News,
7 Sep. 2025
Verb
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People argue about how much space a birder should give to its target, and whether baiting them with food is appropriate.—
Ross Andersen,
The Atlantic,
7 Sep. 2025
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Exclude ants by baiting them at the base of your specimen infested with the fungus or apply Vaseline to the trunk of the tree or branches of the shrub in a two-inch wide band.—
Joshua Siskin,
Oc Register,
15 Aug. 2025
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Cite this Entry
“Decoying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decoying. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.
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