phrasal verb · neutral
put up to
UK/pʊt ʌp tuː/US/pʊt ʌp tu/put·up·TO
speakingtask2
to encourage or persuade someone to do something, often something wrong
Examples
“He admitted that his friends had put him up to stealing the laptop.”
“Teenagers are sometimes put up to risky dares by their peers.”
“She claimed she was put up to it and didn't realize the consequences.”
Band 8 sentence
“He later confessed that he had been put up to the prank by a group of older students who wanted to cause trouble.”
Collocations
- put someone up to something
- be put up to
Word family
put up to phrasal verb
Common mistakes
put up with→put up to
make someone do→put someone up to
Say it for a higher band
5make someone do→6encourage→7+put up to
Synonyms
instigate
encourage
Easily confused
encourage
“Her teacher encouraged her to apply for the scholarship.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In put …
Learn it with its set