Meaning & use
leading on someone
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Meanings
phraseidiominformaldisapproving
Encouraging someone to believe you feel romantically interested when you do not, so that they keep hoping.
Grammar: Used as a noun-like -ing phrase: 'Leading on someone is unkind.' The full verb keeps the person in the middle: lead someone on.
Patterns
- lead someone on
- be leading someone on
- accuse someone of leading someone on
He kept buying her dinner, but she was just leading him on.
Stop leading on someone if you already know you are not interested.
His friends told him she had been leading him on for months.
phraseidiominformal
Making someone expect something good that will never happen, such as a job or a deal.
Grammar: Same pattern as the romantic sense: the person comes after 'lead' and before 'on'.
Patterns
- lead someone on about something
- be led on
The company led the applicants on for weeks and then hired nobody.
Don't lead on someone about a promotion you cannot give.
Common combinations
- be leading someone on
- I think he is leading you on.
- accuse someone of leading someone on
- She accused him of leading her on.
- keep leading someone on
- He kept leading her on even after she asked for a straight answer.
- stop leading someone on
- You should stop leading him on and tell him the truth.
- feel led on
- After the third canceled date, he felt led on.
Synonyms and how they differ
- stringing someone along
- Very close in meaning, but it stresses keeping someone waiting over time rather than giving false romantic hope.
- toying with someone
- Suggests playing with someone's feelings for amusement; a bit more literary than 'leading on'.
- giving someone false hope
- A neutral phrase that works for any situation, not only romance.
Opposites
Word family
- lead someone on phrase
- The base phrasal verb; the person goes between 'lead' and 'on'.
- lead on phrasal verb
- Same verb used without a named person, e.g. 'He was leading on.'
Commonly confused: leading on someone or leading? leading on someone or leading to?
leading on someone vs leading
'Leading' alone means 'most important' or 'in first place'; 'leading someone on' is a phrasal verb about false hope.
leading on someone vs leading to
'Leading to' means causing something to happen, as in 'stress leading to illness' — a completely different pattern.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'leading on someone' correctly?
Choose one answer.
With this phrasal verb the person goes between 'lead' and 'on': lead him on. Option A puts 'on' before the person, which is wrong; 'leading to' in option C means 'causing', not giving false hope.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “leading on someone”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.