put on; putting on; puts on
1
2
: to cause to act or operate : apply
put on more speed
3
a
: add
put on weight
b
5
a
: to mislead deliberately especially for amusement
the interviewer … must be put down—or possibly, put on—
Melvin Maddocks
Melvin Maddocks
b
: kid entry 3 sense 1
you're putting me on
Synonyms
Adjective
- affected
- artificial
- assumed
- bogus
- contrived
- factitious
- fake
- false
- feigned
- forced
- mechanical
- mock
- phony
- phoney
- plastic
- pretended
- pseudo
- sham
- simulated
- spurious
- strained
- unnatural
Noun
- act
- airs
- charade
- disguise
- facade
- façade
- front
- guise
- masquerade
- playacting
- pose
- pretense
- pretence
- semblance
- show
Verb
Examples of put-on in a Sentence
Verb
I put on a coat and shoes to go outside.
some critics are putting it on when they say it's the best comedy ever made
Recent Examples on the WebAlan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2023
More importantly, the movies are mostly devoid of an outsider’s gaze, although some of Montañez (Jesse Garcia)’s quippy voiceovers feel like a put-on for the benefit of gringos.
—Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
What is behind it, however, is both method and mischief, and a perpetual Mad magazine sense of put-on.
—Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Drake is now 36 years old with 17 years in the music industry, nearly a dozen Billboard chart-topping hits, and more put-on accents and flows than a rapping AI.
—Dylan Green, Vulture, 26 July 2023
Consider Scorcese gangster flicks, the same actors jawing put-on accents, the AM jukebox soundtracks, fatiguing runtimes, and that same walkabout-voiceover shot.
—Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
Casey Clark, Parents, 17 Nov. 2023
The Food Network star, 55, will put on the first-ever Flavortown Fest from June 1-2, 2024, PEOPLE can reveal exclusively.
—Ana Calderone, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
The advice makes sense when cleaning a stone hearth, too: Dampen the whole hearth, then put on protective gloves and apply the cleaning solution to the black area.
—Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
The two executives who did were put on leave after the cries for boycotts started.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023
No one was being put on trial for carpet-bombing German and Japanese cities in which hundreds of thousands of civilians died.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2023
The leader of a Haitian gang that allegedly kidnapped 16 U.S. citizens and killed one in another incident has been put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, the agency announced Wednesday.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 15 Nov. 2023
Lately, on her Instagram, Monica has been putting on look after look.
—Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 15 Nov. 2023
Christmas Show: Point Loma Nazarene University Choir and Chorale put on their 22nd annual Christmas Show, aka Cider Celebration, from 6 and 8 p.m. Dec. 1-2 in the university’s Crill Auditorium.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2023
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Adjective
Temple definitely comes closest to caricature of the three leads, but the show is aware of this, and eventually establishes a reason why the accent and a lot of Dot’s personality seems like a put-on.
—Alan Sepinwall, Rolling Stone, 21 Nov. 2023
More importantly, the movies are mostly devoid of an outsider’s gaze, although some of Montañez (Jesse Garcia)’s quippy voiceovers feel like a put-on for the benefit of gringos.
—Rebecca Sun, The Hollywood Reporter, 3 Sep. 2019
What is behind it, however, is both method and mischief, and a perpetual Mad magazine sense of put-on.
—Stephen Birmingham, Town & Country, 10 Aug. 2023
Drake is now 36 years old with 17 years in the music industry, nearly a dozen Billboard chart-topping hits, and more put-on accents and flows than a rapping AI.
—Dylan Green, Vulture, 26 July 2023
Consider Scorcese gangster flicks, the same actors jawing put-on accents, the AM jukebox soundtracks, fatiguing runtimes, and that same walkabout-voiceover shot.
—Jonathan Rowe, SPIN, 5 June 2023
Verb
With a peel-and-stick design, these stickers are easy to put on and take off so teens will be able to experiment on their own and with friends.
—Casey Clark, Parents, 17 Nov. 2023
The Food Network star, 55, will put on the first-ever Flavortown Fest from June 1-2, 2024, PEOPLE can reveal exclusively.
—Ana Calderone, Peoplemag, 17 Nov. 2023
The advice makes sense when cleaning a stone hearth, too: Dampen the whole hearth, then put on protective gloves and apply the cleaning solution to the black area.
—Jeanne Huber, Washington Post, 17 Nov. 2023
The two executives who did were put on leave after the cries for boycotts started.
—Chris Morris, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023
No one was being put on trial for carpet-bombing German and Japanese cities in which hundreds of thousands of civilians died.
—Isaac Chotiner, The New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2023
The leader of a Haitian gang that allegedly kidnapped 16 U.S. citizens and killed one in another incident has been put on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list, the agency announced Wednesday.
—Luke Barr, ABC News, 15 Nov. 2023
Lately, on her Instagram, Monica has been putting on look after look.
—Kerane Marcellus, Essence, 15 Nov. 2023
Christmas Show: Point Loma Nazarene University Choir and Chorale put on their 22nd annual Christmas Show, aka Cider Celebration, from 6 and 8 p.m. Dec. 1-2 in the university’s Crill Auditorium.
—Linda McIntosh, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Nov. 2023
See More
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'put-on.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Dictionary Entries Near put-on
Cite this Entry
“Put-on.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/put-on. Accessed 2 Dec. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
put-on
1 of 2 nounˈpu̇t-ˌȯn,
-ˌän
1
: a false appearance or presentation
my bravery was all a put-on
2
: a joke in which someone is fooled
put on
2 of 2 verb(ˈ)pu̇t-ˈȯn,
-ˈän
1
a
: to dress oneself in
b
: to make part of one's appearance or behavior
c
: pretend entry 1 sense 1
put on a show of anger
2
: exaggerate, overstate
they're putting it on when they make such claims
3
: perform sense 3b, produce
put on an entertaining act
4
: kid entry 2 sense 1, fool
you're putting me on
put-on
adjective
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