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
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
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.
—ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
Ironically, an honest-to-goodness mummy movie consumed with exotica (the first one from 1932 was released in the wake of the global mania over King Tut’s tomb) makes a lot of sense right now, with America straying into foreign deserts.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 17 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
In 2016, 10 US marines were held after straying into Iranian waters near the island.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 12 Mar. 2026
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
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.
—ABC News, 24 Apr. 2026
Ironically, an honest-to-goodness mummy movie consumed with exotica (the first one from 1932 was released in the wake of the global mania over King Tut’s tomb) makes a lot of sense right now, with America straying into foreign deserts.
—Joshua Rothkopf, Los Angeles Times, 17 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
In 2016, 10 US marines were held after straying into Iranian waters near the island.
—Chas Newkey-Burden, TheWeek, 12 Mar. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for straying
Verb
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The visual of a 450-pound llama in a pirate hat wandering past a Starbucks kiosk is, apparently, just a normal Tuesday at PDX.—
Hanna Wickes,
Sacbee.com,
23 Apr. 2026
-
The film follows Airi (Hoshi), a wandering medium who spends her life guiding restless spirits out of the world of the living.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
22 Apr. 2026
Verb
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While monitoring predators at Python Cave — which is home to Egyptian fruit bats confirmed to be infected with the virus — in Uganda's Queen Elizabeth National Park, scientists recorded hundreds of humans trespassing to visit the area.—
Cara Lynn Shultz,
PEOPLE,
22 Apr. 2026
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Much about the project, however, remains tied up in legal challenges, including the future of a federal consent decree supposed to outline any pipeline restart and an assertion from California that the company is now trespassing through Gaviota State Park.—
Grace Toohey,
Los Angeles Times,
20 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Bishop Moore junior Lucas Magro went 2-1 in the individual singles bracket and took the top seed, William Freshwater of Barron Collier, to a tiebreaker before falling 1-6, 6-1, (10-3).—
Buddy Collings,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
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But the Pistons were sloppy with the ball and careless overall in a 94-88 loss to the Orlando Magic on Monday night, falling behind 3-1 in their first-round Eastern Conference series.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
28 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Straying.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/straying. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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