STRAYING Synonyms: 22 Similar and Opposite Words

straying

verb

present participle of stray

as in wandering

to commit an offense our straying son swears he's returned to the straight and narrow

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Example Sentences

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.

Recent Examples of straying Hundreds of wild horses straying outside a swath of territory spanning California and Nevada are set to be rounded up starting Wednesday, July 8. — Paris Barraza, USA Today, 8 July 2026 About 50 yards below me a water fence is built out into the river to keep cattle from straying. — Ralph Tuttle, Outdoor Life, 25 June 2026 This is a commonsense safety upgrade that would enable drivers to tether their horses and prevent them from straying. — Lisa Rozner, CBS News, 22 June 2026 Over the decades the O’odham placed some barbed wire along the border to keep livestock from straying into the neighboring country, limiting the spread of maladies such as foot-and-mouth disease and hindering cattle thieves. — Geraldo L. Cadava, The Atlantic, 20 June 2026 The incursion underscores a growing pattern of Russian and Ukrainian drones straying into Eastern Europe, raising questions about air defenses as NATO and EU leaders condemn Moscow and weigh further sanctions. — Stephen McGrath, Los Angeles Times, 29 May 2026 The lawsuit accuses Altman and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company’s founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. — ABC News, 12 May 2026 But since then, OpenAI’s structure has shifted – and Musk, the richest man on earth, claims its executives and Microsoft have unjustly enriched themselves by straying from the company’s original charitable mission. — Hadas Gold, CNN Money, 29 Apr. 2026 The civil lawsuit accuses Altman, OpenAI’s CEO, and his top lieutenant, Greg Brockman, of double-crossing Musk by straying from the San Francisco company’s founding mission to be an altruistic steward of a revolutionary technology. — Michael Liedtke, Chicago Tribune, 27 Apr. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for straying

Verb

The fishing village has become the latest tourist destination to introduce a fine for anyone found wandering its streets bare-chested or in swimwear.

— Maureen O'Hare, CNN Money, 11 July 2026
Ángel Jesús Romero Audivet’s family has spent days wandering among the injured and the dead left behind by the earthquakes in Venezuela.

— Sonia Osorio, Miami Herald, 9 July 2026

Definition of wandering

Verb

The company sued him for trespassing on its vacant property next to his home.

— Jena Brooker, ProPublica, 6 July 2026
Instead of Cady as rapist, Cape Fear seems to be going for a general theme of Cady as violator, someone who is trespassing not singularly on a female body but on the Bowdens’ trustworthiness.

— Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 26 June 2026

Definition of trespassing

Verb

Try to find a place that will block blowing or falling debris.

— CA Weather Bot, Sacbee.com, 16 July 2026
Snow rooms, enclosed caverns of ice and snow, sometimes incorporating gently falling flakes, are the latest at-home flex for some of the world’s wealthiest, according to the New York Times.

— Elizabeth Fazzare, Architectural Digest, 15 July 2026