put on the dog
English
Alternative forms
- put on dog
Pronunciation
Audio (AU) (file)
Verb
put on the dog (third-person singular simple present puts on the dog, present participle putting on the dog, simple past and past participle put on the dog)
- (colloquial, idiomatic, dated) To dress up; to make a show of wealth and/or importance; to be pretentious. [from 19th c.]
- Synonym: put on airs
- 1985, Peter Carey, Illywhacker, Faber & Faber 2003, p. 94:
- If she softened her natural vowels a fraction in keeping with her role as a Protestant lady, she did not put on dog or act in a snobbish manner.
See also
- put on the ritz