put-up job
1
8.5
- noun
- Informal
:
trampa
- A put-up job.
Examples
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Many thought the accident was a put-up job to distract from the ongoing investigations.
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Triumphs of self-obliteration the papers were, put-up jobs every one of them, and as much of a bore to read as they must have been to write.
Academic text (2017) -
You mean this is a put-up job?
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That was a put-up job?
-
- It'll look like a put-up job.
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Even 9/11 was a put-up job.
Blog text (7) -
- Papa, it'll look like a put-up job.
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Skeptics claimed that the whole event was a put-up job to gain publicity for the charity.
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After realizing the surprise party was a put-up job, she laughed at how everyone had kept it secret.
Synonyms
87
6.8
An act of tricking someone so they are blamed for a crime they did not commit
53
7.7
A clever trick to deceive someone
27
4.9
To use dishonest ways to cheat people
19
9.5
A trick or excuse to hide the real reason
11
8.1
A clever trick that deceives people or hides the truth
1
8.2
An attempt to trick someone by using false or exaggerated praise
Dishonest actions that try to trick people
Antonyms
How Deceptive
Surface Forms
Morphology
put-up + job
The compound signals an arranged or staged 'job' because 'put (up)' can mean to arrange or stage and 'job' can mean an operation, so there is a recognisable compositional link. However the hyphenated form and the specialized sense 'a deliberately staged/deceptive operation' is somewhat idiomatic and relies on knowledge of the phrasal sense of put up and slangy use of job, so a B1 learner who only knows the basic words may not fully derive the exact meaning without exposure.
Etymology
Put-up job comes from the idea of put up, meaning 'to stage' or 'set up', and job, meaning a planned act. Imagine people secretly 'putting up' a scene like a small show so everything looks real, and that's why a put-up job means a trick or plan 'to fool' people.