What's the difference between cloy and ploy?

Cloy


Definition:

  • (v. t.) To fill or choke up; to stop up; to clog.
  • (v. t.) To glut, or satisfy, as the appetite; to satiate; to fill to loathing; to surfeit.
  • (v. t.) To penetrate or pierce; to wound.
  • (v. t.) To spike, as a cannon.
  • (v. t.) To stroke with a claw.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) "A syrupy drizzle of prettiness covers this cloying movie," wrote the Guardian's Peter Bradshaw .
  • (2) On top of the succession, that child would be the first direct female link to not only the heaving emotional tsunami that was Diana, but also the cloying sense of public ownership of Diana.
  • (3) Some mentioned a macho, sexist culture, and others said they felt patronised by a cloying paternalism.
  • (4) You can structure your sweet eating so that every mouthful contains cloying pink goo.
  • (5) Given that what gets on my wick is precisely that kind of vacuous waffle, allow me to illuminate you all: Teavana Oprah Chai is merely vaguely spicy, very sweet tea that would be instantly forgettable if it wasn’t so queasily cloying.
  • (6) Many people were suspicious of this alien seed which announces itself with its all-pervasive perfume, reminiscent of honey to some, cloyingly sweet and as sickly as regurgitated baby milk to others.
  • (7) Still cloyingly submissive you'll be pleased to know.
  • (8) The word "foodie", it is true, lays claim to a kind of cloying, infantile cuteness which is in a way appropriate to its subject; but one should not allow them the rhetorical claim of harmless innocence implied.
  • (9) There is no need for cloying nostalgia, but let's get it in perspective.
  • (10) Of course, other fruit can be used in place of the rhubarb, but sharp fruits are best to avoid a cloying sweetness.
  • (11) The relentless barrage of wellness and self-improvement-focused tourism can border on the cloying (after a delicately-spiced breakfast of quinoa and almond milk at ChocolaTree, I find myself all but begging a waitress at a nearby downmarket diner to give me the strongest, worst-quality filter coffee she can find).
  • (12) The VMAs have gone from provocative and shambolic in the 80s and 90s to a cloyingly sweet, backslapping circle jerk, so Minaj’s sore-loser honesty felt refreshing.
  • (13) I was scheduled for an op, on the following Thursday, and allowed, with cloying reluctance, to go home.
  • (14) Gilbert, like Murland, wants a timely reconsideration of the facts: "In the war's immediate aftermath, it was completely understandable it should be treated as something of the greatest reverence, but 100 years on this continuing reverence has lost its original grief-laden meaning in favour of an increasingly cloying sentimentality," he said, adding: "The first world war should be considered within a chronological continuum, and not as an event outside history itself."
  • (15) This was a tiny inflection of independence, cloaked in cloying praise; some kind of last hurrah.
  • (16) And she enjoys proselytising to her fans, spreading cloying mantras through her music, onstage banter, interviews and tweets, like a bobbed Deepak Chopra for the Twilight generation.
  • (17) It was a cloying sense of deja vu attached to the team that finished seventh last season, 22 points off the top and drastically in need of some more dynamism.
  • (18) In many cases lack of street paving, insufficient water, proliferating cesspools and open sewers turned them into cloying, degrading and offensive mires.
  • (19) It has been tainted for ever with the cloying stain of celebrity, and the only thing tackier than being a celebrity is looking like a celebrity copycat.

Ploy


Definition:

  • (n.) Sport; frolic.
  • (v. i.) To form a column from a line of troops on some designated subdivision; -- the opposite of deploy.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) 10.36am BST Mind Games Well come on then, let's have your thoughts on the best psychological ploys in football history.
  • (2) Chelsea , however, will not be too concerned if this match is added to the long list of games that is used to knock José Mourinho's ploys of conservatism and, ultimately, it is proven to be a valuable result.
  • (3) He wrote: “The NHS in Wales will not be the victim of any Conservative party ploy to drag its reputation through the mud for entirely partisan political purposes.
  • (4) The unsuspecting public may not realise that the call to avoid palm oil is nothing more than a trade ploy since in recent years palm oil has been very competitive and has gained a major share of the world's edible oils and fats market.
  • (5) Will he really go in the slower group of elite runners and not the pace set by Haile Gebrselassie, allowing his rivals a 30-second advantage at halfway, or is it a clever psychological ploy?
  • (6) But in an interview with Buzzfeed , he claimed the choice of lead, played by Jeremy Irvine, was a deliberate ploy to appeal to a heterosexual crowd.
  • (7) Yet Wenger talked about it jarring with his principles to base his entire strategy around ploys of conservatism.
  • (8) This is in part due to planned obsolescence – a devious ploy by manufacturers bolstered by marketing strategies to make us fall out of love with a product hastily.
  • (9) The link between Lynton Crosby and the tax haven could make uncomfortable reading for the prime minister, who has described legal ploys to avoid tax as morally wrong.
  • (10) For the most part, however, the home side were unashamed about their ploys of conservatism.
  • (11) That was Nigeria’s outlet ball all game, and was clearly a deliberate ploy on the part of Keshi.
  • (12) If the ploy had worked, Texas conservatives might have seen Dewhurst as the hero who saved the anti-abortion bill.
  • (13) This ploy has proven unsuccessful in all cases where scientific evidence was adequately presented by the state and in all important court cases where the issue was critically examined.
  • (14) The essence of his argument is that the programme is a ploy to displace poor people from their homes to divert resources to consultants and developers.
  • (15) What giant new claim on our fast-depleting personal wealth is the chancellor going to spring on us that requires such an elaborate ploy?
  • (16) For the owners, this bafflement is a deliberate ploy to enhance the wow factor of reaching the lively reception and bar.
  • (17) Earlier this month a federal district judge, Nelva Gonzales Ramos, struck down the law , slamming it as a cynical ploy on the part of Republicans to fend off the growing strength of the minority electorate in Texas by “suppressing the overwhelmingly Democratic votes of African Americans and Latinos”.
  • (18) This campaign is nothing but a self-interested and cynical ploy by the newspaper, a childish way of hitting back at the growing chorus of anti-Page 3 voices .
  • (19) Although light-hearted in character, Klinsmann’s ploy seems to have a serious purpose behind it as American interest in the World Cup reaches unprecedented levels.
  • (20) Boxer described the Republicans’ letter as “bizarre, inappropriate” and a “desperate ploy to scuttle a comprehensive agreement” that she said is “in the best interests of the United States, Israel and the world”.