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
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Recent Examples of decoying
What these guys really care about is decoying ducks in and seeing the show.
—
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 9 Oct. 2025
Alex Robinson, Outdoor Life, 9 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decoying
Verb
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There’s a Redwall vibe to the third installment, as fan-favorite rattkin Fern gets carried away on an impromptu adventure involving a chaos-goblin who holds a bounty tempting enough for all the ne’er-do-wells to try and collect on.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
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Pricing must stay fair enough for casual fans yet tempting enough for collectors.—
Dmitrii Khasanov,
Forbes.com,
18 Sep. 2025
Verb
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This 35% transferable tax credit incentive, introduced in 2012 alongside the Colombia Film Fund, has been luring a growing number of projects, with Netflix increasingly investing in more series and features.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
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Paramount also made headlines on the talent front, luring the Duffer Brothers from Netflix but then allowing Yellowstone creator Taylor Sheridan to decamp for a deal with NBCUniversal.—
Dade Hayes,
Deadline,
10 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Jennifer then develops a taste for human flesh and begins seducing and killing teenage boys.—
Ashley Hume,
FOXNews.com,
27 Oct. 2025
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Conveniently, two beautiful young strangers (Ana de Armas, Lorenza Izzo) come by late one stormy night, inviting themselves in and quickly seducing him.—
Tim Grierson,
Vulture,
18 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But if the hotel has made the town enticing to a new kind of visitor—say, one who appreciates the convenience of its helipad—the property has none of the hermetic insularity of a traditional resort.—
David Amsden,
Travel + Leisure,
5 Nov. 2025
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Some researchers think that since the last Ice Age Indigenous tribes burned swaths of woodlands to create an environment enticing to game animals.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Chime has proven wildly successful in persuading new customers to open accounts.—
Daniel de Visé,
USA Today,
6 Nov. 2025
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After reading Wuoronos’ story, Pralle began conversing with her through letters, eventually persuading Wuornos to let Pralle adopt her.—
CT Jones,
Rolling Stone,
30 Oct. 2025
Verb
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For reasons not entirely or even mostly of her own doing, Sweeney has become an exasperating celebrity — not above baiting the press, but so painstakingly media trained that her public appearances are devoid of substance and any sense of personality.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
7 Nov. 2025
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People who are deaf or blind or veterans who have been declared 100% disabled, are eligible for special Independence hunts that allow baiting.—
Georgea Kovanis,
Freep.com,
3 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Decoying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decoying. Accessed 30 Nov. 2025.
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