-baiting

American  

1. a combining form used to describe hate speech and other rhetoric or depictions that target a minoritized group in order to denigrate that group or for the purpose of pitting different identity groups against one another.

   gender-baiting;

   queerbaiting;

   race-baiting.

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Etymology

Origin of -baiting

First recorded in 1920–25; from bait ( def. ) (in the sense “to worry, torment”) + -ing ¹ ( def. ); modeled after Jew-baiting ( def. )

Example Sentences

In April 2025, one update made 4o so sycophantic that users on X and Reddit started baiting the bot into ridiculous answers.

From The Wall Street Journal

Pua is grinning, and I know she’s baiting me into talking.

From Literature

The scam involves baiting a customer with an initial cheap quote before adding on hidden charges and carrying out unnecessary work that leads to spiralling costs.

From BBC

What about the ecosystem or nervous system of Los Angeles is baiting jazz music out from its malleable shadow into a renewed prominence and even granting it rank in the clout economy?

From Los Angeles Times

Despite working for two weeks - baiting the ocean, taking samples of seawater to search for shark DNA and using underwater cameras - the researchers did not manage to find any animals to tag.

From BBC