take in — deceive
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutralcommon
to trick or deceive someone so that they believe something that is not true
Say it like a native
Textbook I was completely deceived by his false promises.
Native I was totally taken in by him.
'Be taken in' is the natural way to say you were fooled; 'deceived by his false promises' is formal.
Pattern: take in someone | take someone in
In use
- She was completely taken in by the scam and lost a lot of money.communication
- Some people are easily taken in by advertisements that make false promises.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ He took in me with his story.
✓ I was taken in by his story.
Usually passive — 'be taken in BY' someone or something.
Common collocations
be taken in + by— by the scam, by his charm, completely, by a con artist
Don't confuse it
'Take in' here is about being fooled, not about understanding or learning.
Related
- take in (understand or absorb) — Another meaning of 'take in' is 'understand or absorb'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.