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Glite Dictionary
in on

in on

276 7.6
To be aware of and take part in a secret plan
  • phrasal verb
  • Informal
translation icon : estar implicado en
  • Well I have to let you guys in on a little secret.
  • let someone in on
  • get in on something
  • fill someone in on

And we are we are in on the storytelling.

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Examples

  • - Okay, if you're gonna be in on this I guess you ought to know what it's about.

    Moonshine County Express (1977)

  • Why don't you let me in on this?

    Lethal Weapon 3 (1992)

  • But it always seemed like I was in on everything.

  • So my goal today is to be in on every single hand.

    The Try Guys

  • You have to be all in on what your team is doing.

  • I think we'll let the police in on this.

    The Big Sleep (1946)

  • It's like letting you in on something personal.

  • I, too, felt a keen sense of excitement, a sense of being in on something big.

    Academic text (2000)

  • There must have been many pranksters in on the trick, which had taken organization, speed, and silence.

    Fiction book (1993)

  • I want to let you in on the plan we have for the surprise party.

Synonyms

in the loop
vsin on
  • Informal
32 4.0

Knowing what is happening in a group or project

is part of a private plan and knows secret details rather than just being told
in the know
vsin on
  • Informal
20 8.1

A person who knows secret or new information most people do not have

is involved in a private plan or scheme rather than only knowing secret facts

Antonyms

out of it
  • Informal
19 7.2

Feeling left out of a group or activity

How Involved

central
528 2.1
in on
  • Informal
276 7.6
privy
  • Formal
42 8.7
informed
3.7
out of it
  • Informal
19 7.2
unaware
175 2.9

Surface Forms

in on positive

Morphology

in + on

The sense ‘involved in; privy to’ is partly inferable because 'in' gives the idea of being inside/included and 'on' signals relation to something, so learners can often guess it means being included in a plan. However, the exact idiomatic nuance of being 'in on' a secret or scheme is a conventionalized particle combination and not fully predictable from the literal words, so prior exposure helps.

Etymology

In on comes from the image of being inside a small group where a plan is made: you are in the circle and on the plan, not outside. So, to be in on something means to be 'aware' or 'involved' in a secret or plan.