PUT-ON Definition & Meaning

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put-on

[ noun poot-on, -awn; adjective poot-on, -awn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

Informal.

an act or instance of putting someone on.
a prank or pretense, especially one perpetrated or assumed in mock seriousness; hoax; spoof.
affected manner or behavior; pretentiousness.

adjective

assumed, feigned, pretended, or disguised:
a put-on manner that didn't fool anyone.

put on

verb

to clothe oneself in
to put on a coat
usually passive to adopt (an attitude or feeling) insincerely
his misery was just put on
to present or stage (a play, show, etc)
to increase or add
the batsman put on fifty runs before lunch
she put on weight
to cause (an electrical device) to function
also preposition to wager (money) on a horse race, game, etc
he put ten pounds on the favourite
also preposition to impose as a burden or levy
to put a tax on cars
cricket to cause (a bowler) to bowl
put someone on
1. to connect (a person) by telephone
2. to mock or tease

noun

a hoax or piece of mockery
an affected manner or mode of behaviour

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of put-on¹

1855–60; adj., noun use of verb phrase put ( someone ) on

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

To do so would seem like a silly put-on — like a weird grief pantomime.

From

“People trust me because I’m not a put-on.”

From

To Finch’s credit, this wasn’t a complete political put-on.

From

But he writes with sensitivity too, from painterly depictions of the Palm Desert and Salton Sea to riffs on the Talmud that suggest Cohen’s faith isn’t entirely a put-on.

From

But it was just a tactic — what Kanai called a “put-on.”

From

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