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Glite Dictionary
🛠️ To prepare 🏢 To start 🎭 To trick
to set up

to set up

146 6.2
To trick someone so they appear guilty by using false evidence
  • phrasal verb
  • /sɛt ʌp/
translation icon : incriminar
  • Gino, your son stole this money to set me up, and I can prove it.

It could be a false flag set up by Ukraine itself.

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Examples

Synonyms

to frame
vsto set up
123 7.5

To make someone look guilty of a crime by leaving false evidence

is done by tricking someone rather than only presenting real proof
to incriminate
vsto set up
50 7.4

To make someone seem guilty of a crime by showing proof against them

uses deliberate deception to create guilt appearance rather than simply showing evidence
to ensnare
vsto set up
13 7.7

To trap someone or something, often by a trick when they are in a difficult situation

aims to produce guilt appearance through deception, not simply to trap
to entrap
vsto set up
8 7.2

To catch a person or animal by tricking them so they cannot escape

focuses on tricking to make someone look guilty rather than physically trapping them
to trump up
vsto set up
4 8.6

To make a false story to accuse someone unfairly

uses trickery to make someone seem guilty rather than only inventing claims
to set up as the patsy
vsto set up
  • Informal
9.1

To make someone look guilty for something they did not do by tricking other people

is the same idea but phrased to show the person is a scapegoat

Antonyms

to exonerate
  • Formal
129 8.2

To say officially that someone is not guilty of a crime

to absolve
  • Formal
50 7.2

Make someone officially free from blame, guilt, or responsibility

How Deceptive

to frame
123 7.5
to entrap
8 7.2
to set up
146 6.2
to trick
326 3.5
to mislead
87 3.9

Surface Forms

set up infinitive
set up past
set up past participle
setting up present participle
sets up third person singular

Morphology

set + up

The constituents 'set' (to prepare/arrange) and 'up' (completion/positioning) give a partial cue — one can infer arranging or placing someone into a situation — but the specific sense 'to trick or frame someone' is an extended, partly idiomatic meaning that is not fully predictable from the parts. Because the deceit/frame sense requires prior exposure or contextual inference rather than straightforward composition, it is best classified as semi-transparent.

Etymology

Set up meaning 'to trick someone' comes from the image of arranging a trap: you set something and put it up to catch a person. That is why the phrase now also means 'to trick someone or make them look guilty'.