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Synonyms

put-up job

Idioms  

  1. A prearranged conspiracy, especially a crime such as a burglary. For example, The police suspected that the butler was in on it—it was a put-up job. This colloquial phrase was first recorded in 1810.

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

“This is not quite a put-up job, but nonetheless has been cobbled together so that Ghislaine is made to face the charges that Epstein never faced,’’ Ian Maxwell said.

From Washington Times • Nov. 26, 2021

That, and the fact that their prosecution was clearly a put-up job.

From The Guardian • Jan. 25, 2013

Inevitably, some are saying that it is a put-up job, a PR stunt, but if so, someone should turf Dame Judi off whatever movie she's working on and hire Sarah Murdoch immediately instead.

From The Guardian • Sep. 29, 2010

Some civilian scientists were flatly calling the project a put-up job.

From Time Magazine Archive

What do you think of that for a put-up job?

From The Rider of Golden Bar by White, William Patterson

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.