Advertisement

Advertisement

View synonyms for put-on

put-on

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

noun

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


adjective

  1. assumed, feigned, pretended, or disguised:

    a put-on manner that didn't fool anyone.

put on

verb

  1. to clothe oneself in

    to put on a coat

  2. usually passive to adopt (an attitude or feeling) insincerely

    his misery was just put on

  3. to present or stage (a play, show, etc)
  4. to increase or add

    the batsman put on fifty runs before lunch

    she put on weight

  5. to cause (an electrical device) to function
  6. also preposition to wager (money) on a horse race, game, etc

    he put ten pounds on the favourite

  7. also preposition to impose as a burden or levy

    to put a tax on cars

  8. cricket to cause (a bowler) to bowl
  9. put someone on
    1. to connect (a person) by telephone
    2. to mock or tease
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012


noun

  1. a hoax or piece of mockery
  2. an affected manner or mode of behaviour
“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Word History and Origins

Origin of put-on1

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

Example Sentences

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

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

From Salon

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.

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

He described the unorthodox and at times controversial comedian Andy Kaufman as “the pre-eminent put-on artist of his generation” and “a pioneering practitioner of various cultural trends long before they ever became trends.”

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


putoffput on a brave face