Synonyms for stray
streɪstray

WiktionaryRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. strayverb

   Synonyms:
   deviate

2. strayverb

   Having gone astray; strayed; wandering; as, a stray horse or sheep.

   Synonyms:
   deviate

3. strayverb

   In the wrong place; misplaced.

   a stray comma

   Synonyms:
   deviate

4. strayverb

   Figuratively, to wander from the path of duty or rectitude; to err.

   Synonyms:
   deviate

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:4.3 / 3 votes

1. stray

   To wander (Anglo-Saxon windan, wind) is to move in an indefinite or indeterminate way which may or may not be a departure from a prescribed way; to deviate (Latin de, from, and via, a way) is to turn from a prescribed or right way, physically, mentally, or morally, usually in an unfavorable sense; to diverge (Latin di, apart, and vergo, incline, tend) is to turn from a course previously followed or that something else follows, and has no unfavorable implication; to digress (Latin di, apart, aside, and gradior, step) is used only with reference to speaking or writing; to err is used of intellectual or moral action, and of the moral with primary reference to the intellectual, an error being viewed as in some degree due to ignorance. Range, roam, and rove imply the traversing of considerable, often of vast, distances of land or sea; range commonly implies a purpose; as, cattle range for food; a hunting-dog ranges a field for game. Roam and rove are often purposeless, and always without definite aim. To swerve or veer is to turn suddenly from a prescribed or previous course, and often but momentarily; veer is more capricious and repetitious; the horse swerves at the flash of a sword; the wind veers; the ship veers with the wind. To stray is to go in a somewhat purposeless way aside from the regular path or usual limits or abode, usually with unfavorable implication; cattle stray from their pastures; an author strays from his subject; one strays from the path of virtue. Stray is in most uses a lighter word than wander. Ramble, in its literal use, is always a word of pleasant suggestion, but in its figurative use always somewhat contemptuous; as, rambling talk.

   Synonyms:
   deviate, digress, diverge, err, go astray, ramble, range, roam, rove, swerve, veer, wander

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:3.8 / 4 votes

1. stray

   Synonyms:
   wander, deviate, digress, ramble, go astray, err, depart, rove

   Antonyms:
   adhere, abide, stick

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:5.0 / 1 vote

1. strayadjective

   an animal that has strayed (especially a domestic animal)

   Antonyms:
   continual, found

2. isolated, strayadjective

   not close together in time

   "isolated instances of rebellion"; "a few stray crumbs"

   Synonyms:
   stranded, set-apart, apart(p), separated, detached, marooned, quarantined, isolated, obscure, disjunct

   Antonyms:
   found, continual

3. strayverb

   (of an animal) having no home or having wandered away from home

   "a stray calf"; "a stray dog"

   Synonyms:
   isolated

   Antonyms:
   found, continual

4. roll, wander, swan, stray, tramp, roam, cast, ramble, rove, range, drift, vagabondverb

   move about aimlessly or without any destination, often in search of food or employment

   "The gypsies roamed the woods"; "roving vagabonds"; "the wandering Jew"; "The cattle roam across the prairie"; "the laborers drift from one town to the next"; "They rolled from town to town"

   Synonyms:
   roam, project, hustle, wrap, verify, spue, redact, affirm, drift, draw, cast off, wave, array, assert, wander, cheat on, mold, float, cast, put, twine, slog, turn over, avow, cheat, throw away, frame, place, roll up, seethe, pasture, crop, vomit up, browse, chuck, mould, roll, throw up, contrive, retch, purge, rate, betray, tramp, disgorge, swear, plod, meander, flap, blow, lay out, pad, shed, wheel, shake off, barf, graze, weave, wind, range, vagabond, swan, rank, grade, couch, thread, pluck, freewheel, rove, be adrift, ramble, regurgitate, cuckold, throw off, straddle, throw, cat, vomit, ramble on, revolve, order, hurtle, spew, honk, roll out, regorge, drop, set out, aver, run, jog, hurl, trudge, err, upchuck, footslog, be sick, undulate, digress, sick, divagate, puke

   Antonyms:
   continual, found

5. stray, err, driftverb

   wander from a direct course or at random

   "The child strayed from the path and her parents lost sight of her"; "don't drift from the set course"

   Synonyms:
   ramble, rove, range, divagate, err, cast, roam, be adrift, swan, roll, digress, drift, wander, slip, freewheel, blow, tramp, mistake, vagabond, float

   Antonyms:
   continual, found

6. digress, stray, divagate, wanderverb

   lose clarity or turn aside especially from the main subject of attention or course of argument in writing, thinking, or speaking

   "She always digresses when telling a story"; "her mind wanders"; "Don't digress when you give a lecture"

   Synonyms:
   sidetrack, cheat on, ramble, rove, range, divagate, err, cast, betray, thread, cheat, roam, wind, roll, digress, swan, wander, cuckold, drift, depart, straggle, weave, tramp, meander, vagabond

   Antonyms:
   continual, found

Matched Categories

1. • Tell
   • Travel

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. strayverb

   Synonyms:
   wander, rove, ramble, range, roam, straggle, stroll, deviate, digress, go out of the way, go astray

2. strayverb

   Synonyms:
   swerve (from rectitude), err

3. straynoun

   Synonyms:
   estray

4. strayadjective

   Synonyms:
   [Colloquial.] straying, wandering, gone astray

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:4.0 / 1 vote

1. straynoun

   Synonyms:
   estray, waif

2. strayverb

   Synonyms:
   wander, rove, roam, swerve, deviate, err, sin

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "stray":

   wandering, parasite, vagrant, homeless, vagabond

Suggested Resources

1. stray

   Song lyrics by stray -- Explore a large variety of song lyrics performed by stray on the Lyrics.com website.

How to pronounce stray?

How to say stray in sign language?

Usage in printed sourcesFrom: 

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Words popularity by usage frequency

How to use stray in a sentence?

1. Jacob McAfee:

   The crews said she was covered in fleas and smelled really bad. You could tell she had been out wandering for quite a while, it was obvious that she was abandoned or a stray.

2. Zach Black:

   We take in abandoned, stray and abused animals and find them new homes and that would have been the outcome we would have liked for this dog.

3. Alexander Davis:

   One of the main uses of ultra-black materials is to coat the inside of optical equipment to prevent stray light from bouncing around within it, as long as you can create a random array of these nanoparticles that are highly absorbing and the right size and shape, then you should be able to coat anything with it. So there's no need to create some detailed structure to make it work.

4. bprincess10:

   When in despair, we tend to stray. Be optimistic, redemption is not far away!

5. Chief John O’Neill:

   I don’t think they were stray bullets. There were a few shots taken, and we have at least two bullet holes in the truck, now it’s going to be up to the police. Hopefully, the police will get on this and get someone right away and find out what’s going on and why they did it.