Synonyms of put on

put on 1 of 3

verb

1

as in to throw (on)

to place on one's person

I put on a coat and shoes to go outside

Synonyms & Similar Words

• throw (on)
• don
• slip (on or into)
• rig
• dress
• uniform
• suit
• trick
• apparel
• bundle up
• clothe
• array
• doll up
• attire
• bedeck
• robe
• garb
• bedizen
• caparison
• overdress

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• take off
• remove
• strip
• doff
• undress
• disrobe

2

as in to exaggerate

to describe or express in too strong terms

some critics are putting it on when they say it's the best comedy ever made

Synonyms & Similar Words

• exaggerate
• overdo
• play up
• overstate
• overdraw
• pad
• elaborate
• stretch
• embellish
• embroider
• color
• melodramatize
• hedge
• magnify
• overemphasize
• fudge
• sensationalize
• overplay

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• understate
• minimize
• belittle
• play down

3

as in to pretend

to present a false appearance of

put on a show of anger just for fun

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pretend
• pass (for)
• simulate
• assume
• make believe
• affect
• act
• feign
• bluff
• profess
• let on
• dissemble
• counterfeit
• pose
• fake
• forge
• sham
• conceal
• play
• imitate
• masquerade
• mask
• impersonate
• camouflage
• disguise
• dissimulate
• playact
• feint
• malinger

put-on

2 of 3

adjective

ˈpu̇t-ˈȯn 

as in mock

lacking in natural or spontaneous quality

a put-on goofy voice

Synonyms & Similar Words

• mock
• fake
• false
• strained
• unnatural
• exaggerated
• mechanical
• contrived
• artificial
• simulated
• pseudo
• feigned
• phony
• affected
• plastic
• assumed
• sham
• theatrical
• factitious
• bogus
• spurious
• pretended
• cute
• forced
• unreal
• hollow
• automatic
• insincere
• deliberate
• manufactured
• hypocritical
• unrealistic
• calculated
• empty
• pat
• melodramatic
• formal
• hokey
• fabricated
• unctuous
• canned
• conscious
• labored
• facile
• stiff
• histrionic
• unauthentic
• wooden
• concocted
• conventional
• impersonal
• premeditated
• stylized
• two-faced
• cultivated
• double-dealing
• rigid
• overacted
• overdone
• artful
• cutesy
• mealy
• genteel
• mincing
• simpering
• mealymouthed
• goody-goody
• left-handed
• studied
• inflexible
• overrefined

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• genuine
• spontaneous
• real
• natural
• unaffected
• artless
• authentic
• true
• realistic
• bona fide
• right
• sincere
• ingenuous
• honest
• uncontrived
• unfeigned
• unforced
• easy
• smooth
• effortless
• unconscious
• instinctive
• impromptu
• extemporaneous
• impulsive
• unpretending
• unrehearsed
• unstudied
• unprompted

put-on

3 of 3

noun

ˈpu̇t-ˌȯn 

1

as in pretense

a display of emotion or behavior that is insincere or intended to deceive

my bravery was all a put-on—I was scared out of my wits

Synonyms & Similar Words

• pretense
• facade
• show
• guise
• act
• pose
• charade
• airs
• disguise
• masquerade
• front
• semblance
• playacting
• cloak
• persona
• performance
• portrayal
• affectation
• appearance
• pretext
• impersonation
• deception
• camouflage
• image
• gloss
• duplicity
• excuse
• betrayal
• dissimulation
• fakery
• fraud
• deceit
• treachery
• guile
• falseness
• treason
• dissembling
• perfidy
• double-dealing
• falsity
• color
• infidelity
• faithlessness
• double cross
• unfaithfulness

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• sincerity
• frankness
• directness
• candor
• bluntness
• straightforwardness
• forthrightness
• outspokenness
• candidness
• naïveté
• artlessness
• genuineness
• openheartedness
• plainspokenness

2

as in parody

a work that imitates and exaggerates another work for comic effect

for a moment, I couldn't tell if the commercial was serious or a deadpan put-on of ads by other insurance companies

Synonyms & Similar Words

• parody
• spoof
• satire
• caricature
• imitation
• send-up
• takeoff
• burlesque
• rib
• travesty
• comedy
• exaggeration
• farce
• distortion
• mockery
• sketch
• humor
• impersonation
• lampoon
• slapstick
• squib
• mimicking

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of put on

Verb

He was fined, sentenced to five days in jail, and put on probation for three years. — Suhauna Hussain, Los Angeles Times, 4 Nov. 2026

Come to hear the classic Handel’s Messiah performed on period instruments; Apollo’s Fire and Apollo’s Singers put on the concert in mid-December. — Allison Yates, Midwest Living, 3 Nov. 2026

Adjective

For Bass, the swirl of put-on politics is especially exasperating. — Jim Newton, Mercury News, 12 July 2025

With access to troves of archival footage, Braverman shows Kaufman transforming the very nature of comedy by launching the put-on into existential extremes. — Sheldon Pearce, The New Yorker, 21 Mar. 2025

Noun

The let’s-put-on-a-show energy and enthusiasm on display in its pages is hard to resist. — Vince Aletti, New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2026

The role required Cruise to transform with prosthetics (including a fat suit and thinning white hair) and a put-on Southern accent, but, mostly, the absurdist satire demanded his full acting range. — Angelique Jackson, Variety, 30 Sep. 2026