to get wise
13
7.0
- phrasal verb
- /ɡɛt waɪz/
- However, veterans eventually get wise to that kind of behavior.
- finally get wise
- people get wise
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Watch on YouTubeYou can only be a fair weather friend for so long before people get wise to IT.
- You can only be a fair weather friend for so long before people get wise to IT.
- By this time, schools started to get wise about, you know, charging people for copies and all of that.
Examples
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Why don't you guys get wise to yourself?
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So you finally got wise, huh?
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Or you can get wise, it's up to you.
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How about you just get wise?
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I think they are getting wise to what folks are doing.
Blog text (18) -
Some of the business people here are starting to get wise and are going solar.
Blog text (20) -
Clients have gotten wise to this.
Blog text (10) -
Listen, I think they're starting to get wise at the station.
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People will get wise eventually, but by then they've done so much damage.
Blog text (19) -
After months of pretending to be someone else, he finally got wise and decided to reveal his true identity.
Synonyms
∞
1.0
To understand what something means
∞
1.0
To know the meaning of something
∞
1.4
To understand what someone says or an idea
∞
1.1
To suddenly understand something you did not know before
∞
1.1
To understand something after someone explains it
∞
1.0
Find out about something often by chance
772
1.4
To be fully aware that something is true or happening
140
2.7
To understand the meaning of something
78
3.9
To begin to understand something after a while
54
5.0
To understand something important and change for the better
51
6.7
To learn the true facts about a situation
35
7.8
Start to understand what is happening or what to do
35
3.0
To find out what really happened
23
7.1
To learn the true facts after not knowing them
13
4.9
Understand what really happens in a situation, often when it is bad
7
4.9
To begin to understand an idea after not getting it at first
4
4.3
To understand the meaning of something
3
5.7
To begin to deal with or understand a difficult problem
1
5.1
Start to understand something after finding it confusing
1
8.9
To suddenly understand something you did not notice before
1
7.4
To finally understand something after some confusion
1
7.9
To learn from experience so you make better choices
1
7.5
Start to understand something after not understanding it
1
7.2
Notice the true situation after ignoring or misunderstanding it
1
9.9
Begin to understand something you missed before
To finally understand or accept something difficult
Antonyms
How Aware
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components map clearly onto the core meaning: 'get' = become and 'wise' = aware/judging, so a learner who knows both words can infer 'become aware' or 'come to understand'. However, the idiomatic nuance of 'get wise to' (particularly the sense of realizing someone’s tricks or deceit) and its colloquial, construction-specific usage may not be fully predictable to a B1 learner, so it is only partly transparent.
Etymology
Get wise comes from the simple idea of get + wise — to 'get' the state of being 'wise', like a light switching on when you suddenly see a trick; when you 'get wise' to someone's tricks you stop being fooled, so it means 'to realise or understand something after being unaware'.