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.

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

put-up job

“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

And his replies are so swift and sure, so full of extraneous details that come gushing with almaniacal glee that the show's producers feared at first that the show would seem a put-up job.

From Time Magazine Archive

I was so sure it was a put-up job, some asinine, fool joke, I wrote a cautious note to the governor.

From The Haunted Pajamas by Francis Perry Elliott

Related Words

• action
• conspiracy
• game plan
• ploy
• practice
• scenario