lead on

verb

Definition of lead onnext
as in to tempt
to lead away from a usual or proper course by offering some pleasure or advantage a con man whose dupes are usually led on by their own greed and eagerness to turn an easy buck

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for lead on
  1. tempt
  2. lure
  3. seduce
  4. persuade
  5. entice
Verb
  • As budgets get tight, some executives are always tempted to cut back on marketing.
    Megan Poinski, Forbes, 18 Dec. 2024
  • Here's how to keep wild turkeys away from your yard Other Animals While you may be tempted to blame other animals such as opossums or snakes, or even coyotes for making holes or burrows in your yard, these creatures are more likely to use existing animal holes for their dens.
    Arricca Elin SanSone, Southern Living, 18 Dec. 2024
Definition of tempt
Verb
  • West’s story is commonplace in the predatory world of post-graduate football, where thousands of young men have been lured by the promise of achieving their athletic aspirations, a USA TODAY investigation found.
    Kenny Jacoby, USA TODAY, 12 Dec. 2024
  • The tipping slowdown comes even as restaurants ease up on hiking menu prices and lean into discounts to keep luring guests to tables and drive-thrus.
    J.J. McCorvey, NBC News, 10 Dec. 2024
Definition of lure
Verb
  • The film was way ahead of its time with Fox as a demon possessed it girl, seducing and devouring mainly men.
    Paul Tassi, Forbes, 7 Dec. 2024
  • In one scene, Naomi seduces Jordan by walking into the room wearing nothing but stockings and shoes.
    Brendan Morrow, USA TODAY, 3 Dec. 2024
Definition of seduce
Verb
  • For Democrats who agree with Raskin, no amount of calls for returning to normalcy will persuade them to attend Trump's swearing-in ceremony.
    Phillip M. Bailey, USA TODAY, 13 Dec. 2024
  • Four vulnerabilities in WebKit were fixed in iOS 18.2, allowing memory corruption if you were persuaded to interact with malicious web content.
    Kate O'Flaherty, Forbes, 13 Dec. 2024
Definition of persuade
Verb
  • China extends visa-free transit policy China has tripled the amount of time visitors can spend in the country without a visa in yet another move to entice more foreign tourists.
    Alexandra Banner, CNN, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Email newsletters are admittedly pretty common, but those that entice audiences to routinely click through and engage with their content are a rare breed.
    Jodi Amendola, Forbes, 17 Dec. 2024
Definition of entice
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near lead on

leadoff

lead on

lead one down the garden path

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Lead on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/lead%20on. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...