suck in

verb

sucked in; sucking in; sucks in

transitive verb

1

: dupe, hoodwink

2

: to contract, flatten, and tighten (the abdomen) especially by inhaling deeply

Synonyms

• bamboozle
• beguile
• bluff
• buffalo
• burn
• catch
• con
• cozen
• deceive
• delude
• dupe
• fake out
• fool
• gaff
• gammon
• gull
• have
• have on [chiefly British]
• hoax
• hoodwink
• hornswoggle
• humbug
• juggle
• misguide
• misinform
• mislead
• snooker
• snow
• spoof
• string along
• sucker
• take in
• trick

Examples of suck in in a Sentence

she was sucked in by a scam that was run by a shady outfit selling time-shares

Recent Examples on the Web

Excessive demand on the system — usually from residents running hoses and sprinklers while firefighters pull water from hydrants — causes water pressure to drop and contaminants to get sucked in like a vacuum. —Aria Bendix, NBC News, 14 Jan. 2025

On a recent day, a customer heated up a dose of white fentanyl powder, sucked in the smoke through a short straw, and stopped breathing almost instantly. —Maurice Tamman, USA TODAY, 22 Dec. 2024

What ensues is the black hole of Italian cuisine, sucking in both gravity and light. —Anthony Lane, The New Yorker, 16 Dec. 2024

The air purifier itself is sleekly designed with a few cool features, including an internal UV light to kill bacteria and mold, a 360-degree air filter that sucks in pollution from all sides, and an Energy Star certification. —Camryn Rabideau, People.com, 28 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1840, in the meaning defined at sense 1