put on the dog

• put on dog

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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)

1. (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, published 2003, page 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.

• put on the ritz