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
• strained
• unnatural
• false
• exaggerated
• mechanical
• artificial
• simulated
• affected
• contrived
• pseudo
• phoney
• theatrical
• feigned
• assumed
• phony
• plastic
• theatric
• sham
• pretended
• factitious
• bogus
• spurious
• forced
• cute
• unreal
• hollow
• deliberate
• automatic
• calculated
• manufactured
• empty
• insincere
• formal
• hypocritical
• pat
• unrealistic
• unauthentic
• melodramatic
• fabricated
• hokey
• stiff
• conscious
• unctuous
• canned
• labored
• facile
• conventional
• wooden
• histrionic
• concocted
• impersonal
• premeditated
• cultivated
• stylized
• two-faced
• mincing
• rigid
• double-dealing
• overacted
• artful
• overdone
• cutesy
• mealy
• genteel
• simpering
• mealymouthed
• goody-goody
• studied
• left-handed
• 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
• pretence
• disguise
• masquerade
• airs
• façade
• front
• semblance
• playacting
• cloak
• persona
• performance
• portrayal
• appearance
• affectation
• 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
• candor
• directness
• bluntness
• straightforwardness
• forthrightness
• outspokenness
• naiveté
• naïveté
• naivete
• candidness
• 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

Examples of put on in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

In June, the justices by a 5-4 vote put on hold an EPA rule that would have required Midwest states to do more to limit smog that pollutes the air over the East Coast states. —David G. Savage, Los Angeles Times, 16 Oct. 2024

Old Joliet Haunted Prison is put on by Thirteenth Floor Entertainment Group. —Doug George, Chicago Tribune, 16 Oct. 2024

Adjective

As Patrick lopes through the film intruding into people’s space with his strength and his shameless habit of stealing their snacks (and dropping his shorts), Guadagnino over-indulges in close-ups of O’Connor scrunching up his mouth in a put-on smirk. —Amy Nicholson, Los Angeles Times, 25 Apr. 2024

The fighter, a scrawny guy whose swagger looks put-on, hides his face in a monkey mask. —Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter, 12 Mar. 2024