Meaning & use
followed suit
Last updated
UK/ˌfɒləʊd ˈsuːt/
US/ˌfɑːloʊd ˈsuːt/
“followed suit” is a form of “follow suit”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
phraseidiom
Did the same thing as someone else just did.
Grammar: Past tense of follow suit; no object: others followed suit.
Patterns
- follow suit
The first airline cut prices, and others followed suit.
She stood up, and the rest of the class followed suit.
One brand raised prices, and competitors followed suit.
Word forms
| present | follow suit |
|---|---|
| -ing form | following suit |
Common combinations
- quickly followed suit
- Other shops quickly followed suit.
- others followed suit
- He left, and others followed suit.
- soon followed suit
- Rival banks soon followed suit.
- followed suit by cutting
- The town followed suit by cutting taxes.
- refuse to follow suit
- The company refused to follow suit.
Synonyms and how they differ
- imitated
- Imitated focuses on copying, while followed suit means doing the same action in response.
- did likewise
- Did likewise is more formal and has the same meaning.
- copied
- Copied sounds more negative and less natural for institutions.
Opposites
broke ranksled the way
Word family
Practice
Which completes the sentence? When one store lowered prices, the others ___.
Choose one answer.
The idiom is follow suit. The other options are not idioms.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “followed suit”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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