as in to pretend
to take on a false or deceptive appearance
she's not half as innocent as she likes to let on
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Recent Examples of let on
Only the nearby pallets of bottled water and stacks of diapers let on this is an emergency setup.
—
Jessica Wakeman, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2024
Payne’s behavior was apparently even scarier than what Henry let on.
—Federico Fahsbender, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2025
And Jennifer Young Pierce, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of South Alabama, told The Hill that more women run the risk of developing cervical cancer than those numbers let on.
—Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
But with the reporting network realigned and any of its problems apparently behind it, Lululemon looks much better placed for a strong Christmas than its CEO is letting on.
—Mark Faithfull, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for let on
Jessica Wakeman, Rolling Stone, 3 Oct. 2024
Payne’s behavior was apparently even scarier than what Henry let on.
—Federico Fahsbender, Rolling Stone, 11 Feb. 2025
And Jennifer Young Pierce, a gynecologic oncologist at the University of South Alabama, told The Hill that more women run the risk of developing cervical cancer than those numbers let on.
—Alejandra O’Connell-Domenech, The Hill, 3 Dec. 2024
But with the reporting network realigned and any of its problems apparently behind it, Lululemon looks much better placed for a strong Christmas than its CEO is letting on.
—Mark Faithfull, Forbes, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for let on
Recent Examples of Synonyms for let on
pretend
Verb
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That’s the point of him; as the Mission: Impossible franchise’s secret agent extraordinaire, Hunt can pretend to be anyone, accomplish basically any physical task, and uncover conspiracies with aplomb.—
David Sims,
The Atlantic,
23 May 2025
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That old man was Trump—who had just been hospitalized with COVID-19, but was pretending that everything was fine—and yet the column was about America’s gerontocracy as a whole, and what Smith suggested was an unsustainable media omertà around it.—
Jon Allsop,
New Yorker,
23 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Let on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/let%20on. Accessed 3 Jun. 2025.
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