Definition of RED HERRING (original) (raw)

: a herring cured by salting and slow smoking to a dark brown color

[from the practice of drawing a red herring across a trail to confuse hunting dogs] : something that distracts attention from the real issue

Did you know?

Believe it or not, red herring has as much to do with hunting dogs as with brightly colored fish. Here's how: A herring is a soft-finned bony fish. People who like to eat herring have long preserved them by salting and slowly smoking them. That process makes a herring turn red or dark brown—and gives them a very strong smell. Dogs love to sniff such smelly treats, a fact that makes the fish a perfect diversion for anyone trying to distract hunting dogs from the trail of their quarry. The practice of using preserved fish to confuse hunting dogs led to the use of the term red herring for anything that diverts attention from the issue at hand.

Examples of red herring in a Sentence

The argument is a red herring. It actually has nothing to do with the issue. The plot of the mystery was full of red herrings.

Recent Examples on the Web

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.

But that’s a red herring, as is Iris’s unwitting participation in the homicide. —Maureen Lee Lenker, EW.com, 22 Jan. 2025 Is the brother just a red herring for Taylor not wanting her boyfriend to be on camera, or her boyfriend not wanting bad things to come out about him? —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 9 Jan. 2025 Both offer a critique of bedside manner; patients that, seemingly fine, suddenly lose consciousness; red herrings, dead ends and wrong trees to bark up. —Robert Lloyd, Los Angeles Times, 9 Jan. 2025 But that’s a _red herring_—a way to distract policymakers from what’s really at fault. —Paul Weinstein Jr., Forbes, 20 Nov. 2024 [See all Example Sentences for _red herring_ ](/sentences/red herring)