Hook Line and Sinker

---

🗓️ Idiom: Hook, Line, and Sinker (adv)

---

💬 Meaning

• To believe something completely and without doubt.
• To fall for a trick or marketing pitch fully and uncritically.

🧠 Example Sentences

• The customer fell for the promotion hook, line, and sinker.
• They believed the salesperson’s pitch hook, line, and sinker, even though it was too good to be true.
• The audience bought into the branding message hook, line, and sinker.

🏛️ Origin

This idiom comes from fishing equipment. “Hook, line, and sinker” refers to the complete fishing setup. If a fish swallows all three, it is thoroughly caught. The phrase has been used since the late 19th century to describe someone being completely deceived or convinced.

📝 Practice Exercises

1. Fill in the blank:

The client believed every word of the pitch — he fell for it __________.

Answer

hook, line, and sinker

2. Choose the correct meaning of “hook, line, and sinker”:

A) Reluctantly
B) Completely and without question
C) Partially and with skepticism

Answer

B) Completely and without question

3. Rewrite the sentence using the idiom:

“The investor believed the startup’s story completely.” → Change the sentence using: hook, line, and sinker

Answer

The investor believed the startup’s story hook, line, and sinker.

---

ℹ️ Other Useful Pages

👉 Marketing and Sales Idioms
👉 Business English Idioms List
👉 Student Space
👉 Tutor Toolkit

---