Words / P / General

pull the wool over someone's eyes

phrase/pʊl ðə wʊl ˈəʊvə ˈsʌmwʌnz aɪz/

B2CEFR level
40/100Rarity: uncommon
NeutralRegister

To deceive someone in order to gain an advantage or hide the truth.

Don't let the salesman pull the wool over your eyes with talk of a limited-time discount.

Similar: hoodwink, dupe, deceive

Topic: Idioms & phrasal verbs in General English

Rarity runs from 0 (a word everyone knows) to 100 (almost never seen outside specialist or literary writing). Level is the word's real difficulty on the CEFR scale, from A1 to C2.

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