Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Wandering or moving away from the correct path or intended area: Describes something or someone that has deviated from the proper course, group, or place.
   • Behaving in a way that is unfaithful or deviates from accepted moral standards: Describes a person who is being unfaithful, especially in a romantic or marital context.

Usage Examples

• Adjective:
  • The farmer spent the afternoon searching for his straying cattle. (The farmer spent the afternoon searching for his cattle that had wandered away.)
  • She was heartbroken by her husband's straying affections. (She was heartbroken because her husband's romantic feelings were directed toward someone else.)

Advanced Usage

• "straying from the path/truth": Deviating from a prescribed course of action or from what is true or correct.
  • The politician was accused of straying from the truth during the debate. (The politician was accused of not telling the truth during the debate.)
• "a straying mind/thought": A thought or focus that wanders away from the subject at hand.
  • During the long lecture, my straying thoughts kept returning to my vacation plans. (During the long lecture, my thoughts kept wandering away to my vacation plans.)

Variants and Related Words

• Stray (verb): To wander away from a group or correct path; to deviate from a direct course or subject.
  • Please don't let the dog stray onto the road.
• Stray (noun): A domestic animal that has wandered away and become lost; a person or thing that is isolated or separated from its group.
  • We took in a friendly stray cat.

Synonyms

• Wandering: Moving about without a fixed course.
• Errant: Straying from the proper course or standards.
• Unfaithful: Not loyal, especially to a spouse or partner.

Related Phrases

• To go astray: To be lost or to follow a wrong path, either literally or morally.
  • The letter must have gone astray in the mail. (The letter must have been lost in the postal system.)
• To lead someone astray: To cause someone to make bad choices or behave immorally.
  • He was a good kid until he fell in with friends who led him astray. (He was a good kid until he became friends with people who influenced him to make bad choices.)

Adjective

1. unable to find your way
   • found the straying sheep