a prank or pretense, especially one perpetrated or assumed in mock seriousness; hoax; spoof.
3.
affected manner or behavior; pretentiousness.
adjective
4.
assumed, feigned, pretended, or disguised:
a put-on manner that didn't fool anyone.
Origin
1855-60; adj., noun use of verb phrase put (someone) on
Examples from the web for put-on
And that's how people are listening to me, because they know it's not a put-on.
If not exactly a deliberate swindle, it is an endlessly repeated put-on, a shaggy-dog story without a punch line.
British Dictionary definitions for put-on
put on
verb (transitive, mainly adverb)
1.
to clothe oneself in: to put on a coat
2.
(usually passive) to adopt (an attitude or feeling) insincerely: his misery was just put on
3.
to present or stage (a play, show, etc)
4.
to increase or add: she put on weight, the batsman put on fifty runs before lunch
5.
to cause (an electrical device) to function
6.
(also preposition) to wager (money) on a horse race, game, etc: he put ten pounds on the favourite
7.
(also preposition) to impose as a burden or levy: to put a tax on cars
8.
(cricket) to cause (a bowler) to bowl
9.
put someone on
to connect (a person) by telephone
(slang) to mock or tease
noun (slang, mainly US & Canadian)
10.
a hoax or piece of mockery
11.
an affected manner or mode of behaviour
Word Origin and History for put-on
n.
"ruse, deception," 1937, from earlier adjectival meaning "assumed, feigned" (1620s), a figurative extension of the notion of putting on costumes or disguises; from put (v.) + on (adv.). The expression put (someone) on "play a trick on" seems to be a back-formation from the noun.
Slang definitions & phrases for put-on
put-on
adjective
Feigned; affected: his put-on machismo(1621+)
noun
An act, remark, etc, intended to fool someone; a more or less amiable deception: a master of the ''put-on,'' a mildly cruel art/ They nudge us that what they're doing is just a ''put-on''(1896+)
(also put-on artist) A pretender; phony: to equate an original talent like Kenneth Anger with a put-on like Andy Warhol(1960s+)