"come-on" meaning in English

See come-on in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Noun

IPA: /ˈkʌmˌɑn/ [Northern-US, cot-caught-merger], /ˈkʌmˌɔn/ [Southern-US], /ˈkʌmˌɒn/ [Received-Pronunciation] Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-come-on.wav Forms: come-ons [plural]
Rhymes: (Southern American English) -ʌmɔn Etymology: Deverbal from come on to. First use appears c. 1897, in the publications of Edward W. Townsend. See cite below. Etymology templates: {{deverbal|en|come on to}} Deverbal from come on to Head templates: {{en-noun}} come-on (plural come-ons)
  1. (informal) Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement. Tags: informal
    Sense id: en-come-on-en-noun-g7BHvjt5 Categories (other): Terms with Esperanto translations Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 45 8 47
  2. (informal) A statement or sometimes an action reflecting sexual or romantic interest. Tags: informal Translations (sexual or romantic proposal): proposición (Spanish), insinuación (Spanish)
    Sense id: en-come-on-en-noun-zh-RswT~ Disambiguation of 'sexual or romantic proposal': 7 74 19
  3. (theater, slang) A bad actor whose talents do not extend far beyond walking onto the stage. Tags: slang Categories (topical): Theater Translations (inducement): գալիս է (galis ē) (Armenian), venu (Esperanto), houkutin (Finnish), ayolah (Indonesian), reclamo (Spanish), kom igen (Swedish), kom nu (Swedish)
    Sense id: en-come-on-en-noun-LNT6E8Ub Categories (other): English deverbals, English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Terms with Armenian translations, Terms with Esperanto translations, Terms with Finnish translations, Terms with Indonesian translations, Terms with Spanish translations, Terms with Swedish translations Disambiguation of English deverbals: 38 12 50 Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 39 5 56 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 32 14 54 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 28 10 62 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 19 7 73 Disambiguation of Terms with Armenian translations: 26 12 62 Disambiguation of Terms with Esperanto translations: 45 8 47 Disambiguation of Terms with Finnish translations: 34 11 55 Disambiguation of Terms with Indonesian translations: 27 12 61 Disambiguation of Terms with Spanish translations: 27 8 64 Disambiguation of Terms with Swedish translations: 34 10 56 Topics: entertainment, lifestyle, theater Disambiguation of 'inducement': 29 14 57
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Related terms: come on, come-hither, show ankle

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "come on to"
      },
      "expansion": "Deverbal from come on to",
      "name": "deverbal"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Deverbal from come on to. First use appears c. 1897, in the publications of Edward W. Townsend. See cite below.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "come-ons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "come-on (plural come-ons)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "come on"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "come-hither"
    },
    {
      "_dis1": "0 0 0",
      "word": "show ankle"
    }
  ],
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "45 8 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The free offers are just come-ons to get you in the store so the sales staff can work on you.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1897, Edward W. Townsend, Near A Whole City Full, page 164:",
          "text": "He's got a come-on from New Jersey that I'm to steer to the turning joint.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement."
      ],
      "id": "en-come-on-en-noun-g7BHvjt5",
      "links": [
        [
          "attract",
          "attract"
        ],
        [
          "advertisement",
          "advertisement"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records",
          "text": "I come looking for a job\nBut I get no offers\nJust a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally... (motion picture), spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):",
          "text": "What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "text": "I thought he'd asked me to lunch to discuss business; I wasn't expecting a come-on.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A statement or sometimes an action reflecting sexual or romantic interest."
      ],
      "id": "en-come-on-en-noun-zh-RswT~",
      "links": [
        [
          "interest",
          "interest"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A statement or sometimes an action reflecting sexual or romantic interest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "7 74 19",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "sexual or romantic proposal",
          "word": "proposición"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "7 74 19",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "sexual or romantic proposal",
          "word": "insinuación"
        }
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Theater",
          "orig": "en:Theater",
          "parents": [
            "Art",
            "Entertainment",
            "Culture",
            "Society",
            "All topics",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "38 12 50",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
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        },
        {
          "_dis": "39 5 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "32 14 54",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "28 10 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "19 7 73",
          "kind": "other",
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          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "26 12 62",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Armenian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "45 8 47",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Esperanto translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 11 55",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Finnish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 12 61",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Indonesian translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "27 8 64",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Spanish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "34 10 56",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Terms with Swedish translations",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975, George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff, The Theatre Book of the Year, 1942-1943, page 82:",
          "text": "When the public no longer rushed to the box-office to buy such synthetic exaltations of the spirit, pitchmen like Jerome K. Jerome and the aforesaid Kennedy got out their theopathic apparatus and had at the trade with elixirs in which actors, their faces chalked into a pallor exceeding Nicky Arnstein's, were programmed as A Stranger, A Wayfarer, or Manson and, by conducting themselves for the major portion of two hours like overly verbose and objectionable pallbearers, peculiarly persuaded the come-ons that they were replicas of Christ and that the rest of the cast, a bunch of low-lifes, were converted to the faith by them.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A bad actor whose talents do not extend far beyond walking onto the stage."
      ],
      "id": "en-come-on-en-noun-LNT6E8Ub",
      "links": [
        [
          "theater",
          "theater"
        ],
        [
          "bad",
          "bad"
        ],
        [
          "actor",
          "actor"
        ],
        [
          "stage",
          "stage"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(theater, slang) A bad actor whose talents do not extend far beyond walking onto the stage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "entertainment",
        "lifestyle",
        "theater"
      ],
      "translations": [
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "hy",
          "lang": "Armenian",
          "roman": "galis ē",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "գալիս է"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "eo",
          "lang": "Esperanto",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "venu"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "fi",
          "lang": "Finnish",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "houkutin"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "id",
          "lang": "Indonesian",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "ayolah"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "es",
          "lang": "Spanish",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "reclamo"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "kom igen"
        },
        {
          "_dis1": "29 14 57",
          "code": "sv",
          "lang": "Swedish",
          "sense": "inducement",
          "word": "kom nu"
        }
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɑn/",
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-come-on.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav.ogg"
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɔn/",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɒn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "(Southern American English) -ʌmɔn"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Edward W. Townsend"
  ],
  "word": "come-on"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English deverbals",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English nouns",
    "English phrasal nouns",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/ʌmɔn",
    "Rhymes:English/ʌmɔn/2 syllables",
    "Terms with Armenian translations",
    "Terms with Esperanto translations",
    "Terms with Finnish translations",
    "Terms with Indonesian translations",
    "Terms with Spanish translations",
    "Terms with Swedish translations"
  ],
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
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        "2": "come on to"
      },
      "expansion": "Deverbal from come on to",
      "name": "deverbal"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "Deverbal from come on to. First use appears c. 1897, in the publications of Edward W. Townsend. See cite below.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "come-ons",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
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  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "come-on (plural come-ons)",
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  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "related": [
    {
      "word": "come on"
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    {
      "word": "come-hither"
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    {
      "word": "show ankle"
    }
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  "senses": [
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        "English terms with usage examples"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "text": "The free offers are just come-ons to get you in the store so the sales staff can work on you.",
          "type": "example"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1897, Edward W. Townsend, Near A Whole City Full, page 164:",
          "text": "He's got a come-on from New Jersey that I'm to steer to the turning joint.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "attract",
          "attract"
        ],
        [
          "advertisement",
          "advertisement"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) Something intended to attract, as in an advertisement."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English informal terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English terms with usage examples"
      ],
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        {
          "ref": "1969, Paul Simon, Simon & Garfunkel, “The Boxer”, Bridge over Troubled Water, Columbia Records",
          "text": "I come looking for a job\nBut I get no offers\nJust a come-on from the whores on Seventh Avenue"
        },
        {
          "ref": "1989, Nora Ephron, When Harry Met Sally... (motion picture), spoken by Harry Burns (Billy Crystal):",
          "text": "What I'm saying is - and this is not a come-on in any way, shape or form - is that men and women can't be friends because the sex part always gets in the way.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "text": "I thought he'd asked me to lunch to discuss business; I wasn't expecting a come-on.",
          "type": "example"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A statement or sometimes an action reflecting sexual or romantic interest."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "interest",
          "interest"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(informal) A statement or sometimes an action reflecting sexual or romantic interest."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "informal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English slang",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "Quotation templates to be cleaned",
        "en:Theater"
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      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1975, George Jean Nathan, Charles Angoff, The Theatre Book of the Year, 1942-1943, page 82:",
          "text": "When the public no longer rushed to the box-office to buy such synthetic exaltations of the spirit, pitchmen like Jerome K. Jerome and the aforesaid Kennedy got out their theopathic apparatus and had at the trade with elixirs in which actors, their faces chalked into a pallor exceeding Nicky Arnstein's, were programmed as A Stranger, A Wayfarer, or Manson and, by conducting themselves for the major portion of two hours like overly verbose and objectionable pallbearers, peculiarly persuaded the come-ons that they were replicas of Christ and that the rest of the cast, a bunch of low-lifes, were converted to the faith by them.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "A bad actor whose talents do not extend far beyond walking onto the stage."
      ],
      "links": [
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          "actor",
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          "stage",
          "stage"
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      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(theater, slang) A bad actor whose talents do not extend far beyond walking onto the stage."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "slang"
      ],
      "topics": [
        "entertainment",
        "lifestyle",
        "theater"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɑn/",
      "tags": [
        "Northern-US",
        "cot-caught-merger"
      ]
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Persent101-come-on.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/5/5c/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Persent101-come-on.wav.mp3",
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    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɔn/",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-US"
      ]
    },
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈkʌmˌɒn/",
      "tags": [
        "Received-Pronunciation"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "(Southern American English) -ʌmɔn"
    }
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  "translations": [
    {
      "code": "hy",
      "lang": "Armenian",
      "roman": "galis ē",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "գալիս է"
    },
    {
      "code": "eo",
      "lang": "Esperanto",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "venu"
    },
    {
      "code": "fi",
      "lang": "Finnish",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "houkutin"
    },
    {
      "code": "id",
      "lang": "Indonesian",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "ayolah"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "reclamo"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "kom igen"
    },
    {
      "code": "sv",
      "lang": "Swedish",
      "sense": "inducement",
      "word": "kom nu"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "sexual or romantic proposal",
      "word": "proposición"
    },
    {
      "code": "es",
      "lang": "Spanish",
      "sense": "sexual or romantic proposal",
      "word": "insinuación"
    }
  ],
  "wikipedia": [
    "Edward W. Townsend"
  ],
  "word": "come-on"
}

Download raw JSONL data for come-on meaning in English (5.4kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-12-15 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-12-04 using wiktextract (8a39820 and 4401a4c). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

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