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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And this new college football world — where players are free agents every year — has dramatically benefitted Miami because of the Canes’ knack for luring top players (Cam Ward, Carson Beck, many others) and their financial wherewithal to offer them competitive NIL deals.—
Barry Jackson,
Miami Herald,
6 Jan. 2026
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It's revealed that this beauty drug is infecting people with a virus that leads to death, luring in an investigation by FBI Agents Cooper Madsen, played by Evan Peters, and Jordan Bennett, played by Rebecca Hall.—
Yamillah Hurtado,
PEOPLE,
5 Jan. 2026
Verb
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The video featured a tired Madonna running into a mysterious man and woman in a hotel hallway, with the two seducing the singer into a night together, done as a tribute to the 1963 French film Bay of Angels, which starred Jeanne Moreau.—
Angela Andaloro,
PEOPLE,
26 Nov. 2025
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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
Verb
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Similar to fellow Arsenal summer signing Eberechi Eze — another keen chess player — the assumption would be that the skills taken from the board game have helped Zubimendi be a step ahead in enticing and then bypassing opposition players.—
Thom Harris,
New York Times,
7 Jan. 2026
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Fringe areas on the outskirts of Denver proper and the suburbs are enticing for new locations.—
Max Scheinblum,
Denver Post,
6 Jan. 2026
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 10 Jan. 2026.
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