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Glite Dictionary
the jig is up

the jig is up

1 9.5
Their plan to trick people is discovered so they cannot continue
  • idiom
  • Informal
translation icon : se acabó el juego
  • And at that point I think, oh, if the jig is up, I'm not awake, I'm dreaming.
  • knows that the jig is up

OK, so the jig is up at this point.

Examples

Synonyms

the cat is out of the bag
vsthe jig is up
  • Informal
18 5.7

A secret people now know

shows that discovery prevents the plan from continuing
someone's goose is cooked
vsthe jig is up
  • Archaic
9.9

In serious trouble and likely to be punished or ruined

focuses on exposure that ends the dishonest plan rather than punishment

Antonyms

secret
∞ 2.0

Hidden so other people do not know about it

Surface Forms

the jig is up main

Morphology

the + jig + be + up

The overall meaning 'a deception has been uncovered' is idiomatic and not transparently built from the literal constituents: 'jig' is most commonly known as a dance and 'up' can mean ended, but that combination does not predict the sense of 'trick exposed.' Even though 'up' hints at an ending, the specific sense of exposure of deception is a language-specific idiom that a B1 learner would not reliably infer from the parts alone.

Etymology

The jig is up may come from older English where jig also meant a 'trick' or cheating plan. When the jig was found out or ended, the trick could not continue, so the phrase now means 'the secret is out'.