as in ambushed
to lie in wait for and attack by surprise
a lonely stretch of highway along which unsuspecting tourists are often waylaid by gangs
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Recent Examples of waylaid
In addition, the multiple injuries have waylaid his development.
—
Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
They were supposed to come together at the Palm Springs Film Festival earlier this month, but DiCaprio got famously waylaid while traveling back from his Jeff Bezos yacht vacation.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
Damon takes center stage as Odysseus, the brave and cunning king of Ithaca who gets waylaid for 10 years trying to return home to his loyal wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and dutiful son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), after playing a key role in the Trojan War.
—Oliver Gettell, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Dec. 2025
Google had hoped to void those changes with an appeal, but the ruling issued in July by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a legal blow for the tech giant, which has been waylaid in three separate antitrust trials affecting different pillars of its internet empire.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
Ensure a simple-enough menu stays manageable with a to-do list so you’re not waylaid by days-long side quests.
—Joseph Hernandez, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025
In Pecos, a shelter employee named Luis gave me a tour while Wright was waylaid by a man in a black pickup truck who wanted to surrender four pit bulls.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
An introduction to the press in November 2019 netted immediate e-commerce sales but Nomasei was waylaid by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, four months in.
—Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2025
But underperformance has waylaid each of the last two seasons (159-165 over that period).
—Levi Weaver, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Anthony Bettin, CBS News, 14 Jan. 2026
They were supposed to come together at the Palm Springs Film Festival earlier this month, but DiCaprio got famously waylaid while traveling back from his Jeff Bezos yacht vacation.
—Bryan Alexander, USA Today, 9 Jan. 2026
Damon takes center stage as Odysseus, the brave and cunning king of Ithaca who gets waylaid for 10 years trying to return home to his loyal wife, Penelope (Anne Hathaway), and dutiful son, Telemachus (Tom Holland), after playing a key role in the Trojan War.
—Oliver Gettell, Entertainment Weekly, 22 Dec. 2025
Google had hoped to void those changes with an appeal, but the ruling issued in July by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals delivered a legal blow for the tech giant, which has been waylaid in three separate antitrust trials affecting different pillars of its internet empire.
—Emma Burleigh, Fortune, 6 Nov. 2025
Ensure a simple-enough menu stays manageable with a to-do list so you’re not waylaid by days-long side quests.
—Joseph Hernandez, Bon Appetit Magazine, 21 Oct. 2025
In Pecos, a shelter employee named Luis gave me a tour while Wright was waylaid by a man in a black pickup truck who wanted to surrender four pit bulls.
—Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 16 Oct. 2025
An introduction to the press in November 2019 netted immediate e-commerce sales but Nomasei was waylaid by the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, four months in.
—Lily Templeton, Footwear News, 14 Oct. 2025
But underperformance has waylaid each of the last two seasons (159-165 over that period).
—Levi Weaver, New York Times, 30 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for waylaid
Verb
-
While refusing to fight for the Confederacy and trying to reach safety in Mexico, the group was ambushed by Confederate soldiers on horseback in the 1862 Battle of the Nueces, also called the Nueces massacre.—
Alexis Simmerman,
Austin American Statesman,
10 Jan. 2026
-
The Colorado Avalanche ambushed the Ottawa Senators’ goaltenders so badly Thursday night, the visitors signed a new one in the middle of the game.—
Corey Masisak,
Denver Post,
9 Jan. 2026
Verb
-
One study in 2020 surveyed 261 herders in Mongolia, another common habitat for snow leopards; while many reported having seen snow leopards, or had their livestock attacked by snow leopards, none reported any attacks on humans.—
Jessie Yeung,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
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The upstream piranhas attacked her, and her blood flowing downstream attracted the rest of the piranhas, leaving the creek clear for the herd to cross.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
27 Jan. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Waylaid.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/waylaid. Accessed 31 Jan. 2026.
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