1
as in shows
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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in spoofs
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
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for put-ons
Noun
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Babies who don’t get the vitamin K shot, research shows, are 81 times more likely than those who do to develop late vitamin K deficiency bleeding, where in many cases oxygen can’t reach their brains and blood pools around their skulls.—
Lee Hutchinson,
ArsTechnica,
6 May 2026 -
The designer regularly curates new collections and fresh apparel and is widely known for her signature splits at the end of her runway shows.—
Julia Teti,
Footwear News,
6 May 2026
Noun
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The success of more straightforward spoofs such as Schaffer’s The Naked Gun last year is also reassuring; that film was a classic joke-a-minute throwback that largely worked (for both viewers and critics), more in line with the sort of fare that the Lonely Island made early on.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
27 Apr. 2026
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Retro Rewind players run a Blockbuster Video-like movie-rental store set in the early 1990s, complete with spoofs of real blockbusters of the era.—
Tony Maglio,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Mar. 2026
Noun
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According to evidence presented at trial, Zhu and his associates imported cheap COVID-19 tests from China, then repackaged and resold them under false pretenses.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
6 May 2026
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Maybe Thalia had come to Gilead under false pretenses and gotten caught.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
6 May 2026
Noun
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Broadway, top-heavy with musical parodies and attention-grabbing revivals, is having a strange season by all accounts.—
Theater Critic,
Los Angeles Times,
29 Apr. 2026
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While the show featured many of the same characters, its format strayed from the sci-fi space narrative of Spaceballs and instead was a series of parodies, each episode serving as a satirical commentary on several contemporary hits, such as Lord of the Rings, American Idol and Harry Potter.—
Maddie Garfinkle,
PEOPLE,
16 Apr. 2026
Noun
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These projects reveal the evil lurking underneath the guises of killers who were so often hiding in plain sight.—
Katie Rife,
Entertainment Weekly,
7 Apr. 2026
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By the time my story about him was published in the November 2023 issue of Vanity Fair, Aryeh Dodelson, and all of his guises, had disappeared from the face of the earth.—
Nate Freeman,
Vanity Fair,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Historic preservation is often dismissed as nostalgia, the hobby of people who prefer old facades to modern needs.—
Israel Melendez Ayala,
Time,
6 May 2026
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But the school occupies its own campus, Schwarzman College, modeled on the individual venues at Harvard and Oxford, boasting their own historic facades, where students live and dine.—
Shawn Tully,
Fortune,
2 May 2026
Noun
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His use of dramatic lighting and the poses of the people in the painting have captured audiences’ attention for nearly four centuries.—
Charlotte Observer,
Charlotte Observer,
24 Apr. 2026
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Doctors recommend starting a yoga practice slowly, ideally with an instructor, and modifying poses if needed.—
Tom Gavin,
EverydayHealth.com,
22 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Check back on Deadline for Hawley’s postmortem interview, which will run immediately after the episode airs on the East Coast.—
Nellie Andreeva,
Deadline,
3 May 2026
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Where to Watch Kentucky Derby 2026 The horse racing event (and pre-race coverage) airs on NBC, which can be streamed live via DirecTV (with a five-day free trial), Sling or Hulu + Live TV.—
Erin Lassner,
HollywoodReporter,
2 May 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Put-ons.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/put-ons. Accessed 9 May. 2026.
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