let on

British  

verb

1. to allow (something, such as a secret) to be known; reveal

   he never let on that he was married

2. (tr) to cause or encourage to be believed; pretend

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let on Idioms  

1. Reveal one's true feelings or a fact, allow something to be known, as in Don't let on that you met her before . This usage is probably a shortening of let it on someone . [c. 1700]

2. Pretend, as in He let on that he was very angry, but in fact he didn't care a bit . [First half of 1800s] Also see let in on .

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

let on

You may be solving for a requirement that has more flexibility than the front line let on.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 27, 2026

But when pressed, campers let on that the market jitters are getting to them—a bit.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026

The total cost to train and run DeepSeek’s model was exponentially higher than the company let on, and investors failed to consider that businesses generally wouldn’t use Chinese models due to security concerns.

From Barron's ● Feb. 4, 2026

She does let on that the team looked at "some very innovative ways" to get Paddington moving, but says traditional puppetry was ruled out.

From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2025

He said he had borrowed from more friends than he let on, that the money from the shop alone was no longer enough to sustain the five of them.

From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini