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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of put on

Verb

His lawyers said Mahdi's original attorneys put on a shallow case trying to spare his life that didn't call on relatives, teachers or others who knew him and ignored the impact of months spent in solitary confinement in prison as a teen. —Arkansas Online, 12 Apr. 2025

On a day Billy Napier's program put on its annual Orange and Blue game, the men's basketball team seized center stage for the final time. —Edgar Thompson, The Orlando Sentinel, 12 Apr. 2025

Adjective

Turns out, dat good ole dialect is a put-on: James speaks like a professor. —Rachel Flynn, People.com, 3 Dec. 2024

Also, Burgess is British IRL, so props to him for faking a bad accent, then using a put-on American one for the rest of the episode. —Sara Netzley, EW.com, 29 Oct. 2024