fall for
Definition
- Verb (transitive):
- To be deceived or tricked by someone or something; to believe a lie or a trick.
- To develop strong feelings of love or infatuation for someone.
Examples of Usage
Verb (deceived):
- Don't fall for that old trick; it's an obvious scam.
- I can't believe I fell for his story about being a prince.
- The email looked so real that many people fell for the phishing attempt.
Verb (fall in love):
- They met in Paris and she fell for him almost immediately.
- He fell for her intelligence and her sense of humor.
Advanced Usage
- The phrase often implies a lack of caution or judgment, whether in being deceived ("He was too trusting and fell for it") or in love ("He fell for her hard and fast").
- It can be used in a lighter, less serious sense:
Variants and Related Words
- Fall (verb): The base verb, meaning to move downward. The phrasal verb "fall for" derives its meaning from the idea of "falling into" a trap or "falling into" love.
- Fall for it: A common idiomatic usage of the "deceived" meaning, where "it" refers to the trick or lie.
Synonyms
- Be deceived by: To be tricked or misled.
- Be taken in by: To be deceived.
- Succumb to: To yield to (a temptation or emotion).
- Fall in love with: To begin to love someone.
Related Phrasal Verbs
- Fall apart: To break into pieces; to collapse emotionally or structurally.
- Fall behind: To fail to keep up with a pace or schedule.
- Fall out: To have a disagreement; to become detached.
Related Idioms
- Fall head over heels (for someone): To fall deeply and completely in love.
- He fell head over heels for his new colleague.
- Fall into a trap: To be caught by a trick or deception.
- By answering the email, he fell right into their trap.
Verb
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be deceived, duped, or entrapped by
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He fell for her charms
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He fell for the con man's story
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fall in love with; become infatuated with
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She fell for the man from Brazil
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