as in wandering
to commit an offense
our straying son swears he's returned to the straight and narrow
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Recent Examples of straying
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
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.
—CBS 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
The baby pudu, just a few inches tall, has already been spotted trotting confidently alongside Posey, rarely straying far from her side.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Regularly dig up straying shoots and divide dense clumps every few years.
—Gemma Johnstone, The Spruce, 12 Apr. 2026
The filmmakers make an intentional decision to avoid actually sharing footage of Black deaths and anti-Black police violence on screen to avoid straying into morbid spectacle, which is a commendable ethical choice most non-Black filmmakers might not have made.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
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
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.
—CBS 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
The baby pudu, just a few inches tall, has already been spotted trotting confidently alongside Posey, rarely straying far from her side.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 24 Apr. 2026
Regularly dig up straying shoots and divide dense clumps every few years.
—Gemma Johnstone, The Spruce, 12 Apr. 2026
The filmmakers make an intentional decision to avoid actually sharing footage of Black deaths and anti-Black police violence on screen to avoid straying into morbid spectacle, which is a commendable ethical choice most non-Black filmmakers might not have made.
—Siddhant Adlakha, Variety, 14 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straying
Verb
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Visitors might arrive by crossing the central plaza; emerging from the underground parking garage, nestled into a berm; or else wandering in from the surrounding Jackson Park, a network of pastoral paths completed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux in 1871.—
Sam Cochran,
Architectural Digest,
4 June 2026
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Check tour lengths in advance and look at what else is on the property — many distilleries sit on historic estates worth wandering for the scenery alone.—
Lauren Schuster,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
3 June 2026
Verb
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As if breaking the law would offer a symbolic release from this double bind, the third video documents Liden trespassing into the apartment of an anonymous hoarder.—
Erika Landström,
Artforum,
2 June 2026
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Walking on private ground without permission is clearly trespassing in Montana.—
Natalie Krebs,
Outdoor Life,
14 May 2026
Verb
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Although the push to get Huang out of the race failed, the leftist’s campaign ended up falling flat, securing less than 3% of the vote in the primary.—
Noah Goldberg,
Los Angeles Times,
9 June 2026
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Wall Street, meanwhile, got some relief from falling oil prices.—
Stan Choe,
Fortune,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Straying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straying. Accessed 11 Jun. 2026.
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