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

Early in the trip, Erdo followed a large pod of dolphins that took turns blasting out of the water, appearing to put on a performance for the boat. — Fedor Zarkhin, Los Angeles Times, 13 Oct. 2026

Pull school enrollment, median age and gender balance for the census tract instead of trusting whatever label the last market report put on the town. — Ken Lundin, Forbes.com, 13 Oct. 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