as in random
lacking a definite plan, purpose, or pattern
stray sightings of UFO's, none of which have been rigorously analyzed by scientists
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in to trespass
to commit an offense
our straying son swears he's returned to the straight and narrow
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of stray
Carole Wendt, Twin Cities, 7 Feb. 2025
The remainder has a few stray lines, marks, and smudges.
—Michael Bracewell, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2025
Daniel Taylor, The Athletic, 6 Feb. 2025
As Taylor, the Nez Perce Tribe’s watershed division director, looked on and the pair pushed against the current to spawn, his thoughts strayed elsewhere in the same watershed.
—Kevin Fixler, Idaho Statesman, 5 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for stray
Adjective
That frightened stray kitten forgot her fears and moved up on that ball of paper and batted it across the floor and then batted it again.
—Verb
And then there were the signings who, without wishing to be cruel, strayed dangerously close to being acts of desperation.
—Recent Examples of Synonyms for stray
Adjective
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In the early 20th century, physicists wanted to study Brownian motion, the random movement of particles in a liquid or gas.—
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While there are countless wormholes to be dragged into on a player’s Baseball Reference page, many of them can be pushed aside with the explanation that the reasoning for a level of success (or lack thereof) is due to the sample size making those results random.—
Verb
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Even before the treaty’s ratification, white settlers trespassed on the Nez Perce reservation in search of gold, according to the National Park Service.—
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For example, Henry can trespass on private property and sneak in a nap in a stranger’s bed or eat from their pot of stew at the risk of getting caught by the homeowner and driven out of town.—
Verb
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Thirty years earlier, in 1995, on the weekend before Quebec’s second referendum on independence, my family and I went to Montreal to wander the city, to try to sense what Quebeckers were feeling, but mostly just to be there.—
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Keep an eye out for chachalaca, green jays, Altamira orioles, and the occasional rare avian visitor that wanders in from faraway.—
Adjective
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Anyone who’s ever thrown a pitch or swung a bat knows that the umpire decides in the end — and those decisions have felt arbitrary and highly personal at times.—
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Misinformation surrounding the new law has led to a resurgence of the narrative that white South Africans—especially farmers—are facing an orchestrated campaign of genocide through arbitrary land grabs.—
Verb
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Good news for green energy The cost of a utility-scale solar panels has fallen 82% since 2010, according to the the National Renewable Energy Laboratory.—
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Just like this claim, the others will fall apart because there is no truth to them.—
Cite this Entry
“Stray.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/stray. Accessed 27 Feb. 2025.
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