put-on

¹put–on

adjective \ˈpu̇t-ˈȯn, -ˈän\

Definition of PUT-ON

: pretended, assumed

First Known Use of PUT-ON

1621

Related to PUT-ON

Synonyms

affected, assumed, bogus, contrived, factitious, fake, false, feigned, forced, mechanical, mock, phony (also phoney), plastic, pretended, pseudo, put-on, sham, simulated, spurious, strained, unnatural

Antonyms

artless, genuine, natural, spontaneous, unaffected, uncontrived, unfeigned, unforced

Related Words

automatic, canned, concocted, fabricated, hokey, labored, manufactured, pat, unauthentic, unreal, unrealistic; double-dealing, empty, facile, hollow, hypocritical, insincere, left-handed, mealy, mealymouthed, two-faced, unctuous; exaggerated, histrionic, melodramatic, overacted, overdone, theatrical (also theatric); cute, cutesy, genteel, goody-goody, mincing, overrefined, simpering; conventional, formal, impersonal, inflexible, rigid, stiff, stylized, wooden; artful, calculated, conscious, cultivated, deliberate, premeditated, studied

Near Antonyms

authentic, bona fide, real, realistic, right, true; honest, ingenuous, sincere, unpretending; easy, effortless, smooth; extemporaneous, impromptu, impulsive, instinctive, unconscious, unprompted, unrehearsed, unstudied

²put–on

noun \ˈpu̇t-ˌȯn, -ˌän\

Definition of PUT-ON

1

: an instance of putting someone on <conversational put–ons are related to old-fashioned joshing — Jacob Brackman>

2

: parody, spoof <a kind of put–on of every pretentious film ever made — C. A. Ridley>

First Known Use of PUT-ON

circa 1927

Related to PUT-ON

Synonyms

act, airs, charade, disguise, facade (also façade), front, guise, playacting, pose, pretense (or pretence), put-on, semblance, show

Related Words

impersonation, performance, portrayal; image, persona; appearance, color, gloss; camouflage, cloak; affectation, deceit, deception, dissembling, dissimulation, double-dealing, duplicity, fakery, fraud, guile; betrayal, double cross, faithlessness, falseness, falsity, infidelity, perfidy, treachery, treason, unfaithfulness; excuse, pretext

Near Antonyms

bluntness, candidness, candor, directness, forthrightness, frankness, openheartedness, outspokenness, plainspokenness, sincerity, straightforwardness; artlessness, genuineness, naïveté (also naivete or naiveté)