lead on
[verb]
Synonyms: entice, beguile, deceive, draw on, lure, seduce, string along (informal), tempt

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

lead somebody on phrasal verb (see also lead)
to deceive someone, especially to make them think you love them:
He thought she loved him, but in fact she was just leading him on.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

lead on
lead (someone) on
to deceive someone in order to get what you want from them.
She led him on for five months while she was going out with another guy.

Related vocabulary: toy with someone

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lead on
insincerely encourage someone
I think my friend was leading me on when he told me about the new job.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lead on
v. phr. To encourage you to believe something untrue or mistaken.
Tom led us on to believe that he was a world traveler, but we found out that he had never been outside our state.
We were led on to think that Jeanne and Jim were engaged to be married.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lead someone on
lead (someone) on
to deceive someone in order to get what you want from them.
She led him on for five months while she was going out with another guy.

Related vocabulary: toy with someone

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲

lead someone on
insincerely encourage someone
I think my friend was leading me on when he told me about the new job.

[TahlilGaran] English Idioms Dictionary ▲