take for

verb

took for; taken for; taking for; takes for

transitive verb

: to suppose (someone) to be (a particular kind of person) : to perceive (someone) as (something)

What do you take me for?

"I think I do understand. I'm not such a dull fellow as you take me for."

—Lucy Maud Montgomery

… a usually commonsensical fellow who was anything but the … clod some people took him for.

—Robert Sherrill

Please do not take me for a wimp—one of those pallid, selfless creatures who shuns disagreements entirely.

—Maggie Scarf

Examples of take for in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many freedoms Americans take for granted— like education, art, association, speech— are criminalized or tightly controlled in Iran. —Agustina Vergara Cid, Oc Register, 23 Jan. 2026

Playing college basketball in his hometown is something Chicago native Rubin has never taken for granted. —Jori Parys, CBS News, 23 Jan. 2026

And so even people who were heroes of the nation, they were beaten, tortured, taken for reeducation. —Anne Applebaum, The Atlantic, 23 Jan. 2026

That someone is Lenore Bates, Colorado’s Scenic and Historic Byways program manager, who spends her days thinking about the drives the rest of us take for fun. —Ella Cobb, Denver Post, 22 Jan. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1535, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for take for

• albacore
• alongshore
• antiwar
• anymore
• blastopore
• carnivore
• commodore
• dinosaur
• evermore
• furthermore
• guarantor
• herbivore