hook, line and sinker
In real, traceable use. Part of the curated seed collection; community review is coming.
Meaning · English
To be completely fooled by a deception.
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
Most writers have their own pet hobby - horses, and it can be dangerous to swallow the ideas of a single author hook, line, and sinker in the early stages.
British National Corpus sentence via the MAGPIE corpus (CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-30)
Sources & notes
Imported from Wikipedia “English-language idioms” (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-29), pending review. Figurative class: Metaphor (PIE-English corpus, CC BY 4.0, retrieved 2026-07-31).
Common questions
What does “hook, line and sinker” mean?
To be completely fooled by a deception.
Is “hook, line and sinker” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.