Meaning & use
stringing people along
Last updated
“stringing people along” is a form of “string along”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Deceiving people by making them believe you will do something or stay with them when you will not.
Grammar: Used as a continuous verb phrase: 'He is stringing people along.' The object usually comes between 'string' and 'along'.
Patterns
- string someone along
- be stringing someone along
- string people along about something
He kept stringing people along, promising a promotion he never intended to give.
She realized he was just stringing people along and never planned to leave his wife.
Stop stringing people along and tell them the truth.
Word forms
| base form | string along |
|---|---|
| third person singular | strings along |
| past tense | strung along |
| past participle | strung along |
| -ing form | stringing along |
Common combinations
- string someone along
- Don't string him along if you're not interested.
- keep stringing someone along
- She kept stringing him along for months.
- string people along about something
- They strung people along about the new policy.
- be strung along
- I felt I was being strung along by the company.
Synonyms and how they differ
- mislead
- Mislead means to give someone a wrong idea; string along is more specific and suggests keeping someone waiting or hoping on purpose.
- deceive
- Deceive is a general word for making someone believe something false; string along often involves false promises over time.
- lead on
- Lead on is very close in meaning, but it is often used in romantic contexts; string along can be used more widely.
Opposites
Word family
- string along phrasal verb
- The base form of this phrasal verb.
Commonly confused: stringing people along or string?
stringing people along vs string
As a verb, 'string' alone can mean to put things on a thread; 'string along' is a phrasal verb with a different meaning.
Practice
What does 'stringing people along' mean?
Choose one answer.
'Stringing people along' means deceiving people by making them expect something that will not happen. The other options describe honest or literal actions, which do not fit the idiom.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “stringing people along”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.