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View synonyms for

dress-up

[dres-uhp]

adjective

  1. being an occasion, situation, etc., for which one must be somewhat formally well-dressed.

    the first dress-up dance of the season.



noun

  1. Informal.Usually dress-ups.

    1. a person's best clothes.

      Wear your dress-ups for the reception.

    2. accessories or other added features.

      a car with custom dress-ups.

dress up

verb

  1. to attire (oneself or another) in one's best clothes

  2. to put fancy dress, disguise, etc, on (oneself or another), as in children's games

    let's dress up as ghosts!

  3. (tr) to improve the appearance or impression of

    it's no good trying to dress up the facts

“Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged” 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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Word History and Origins

Origin of dress-up1

First recorded in 1665–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase dress up
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Idioms and Phrases

Wear formal or elaborate clothes, as in I love to dress up for a party . [Late 1600s] For the antonym, see dress down , def. 2.

Put on a costume of some kind, as in The children love dressing up as witches and goblins . [Late 1800s]

Adorn or disguise something in order to make it more interesting or appealing. For example, She has a way of dressing up her account with fanciful details . [Late 1600s]

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Texas Republicans and Gov. Greg Abbott don't like it and they have a plan to ban dress-up and other "non-human behavior" in schools.

From

“I think there are a lot of things that AI can do — matte edges and roto work and that kind of stuff. I don’t think that’s going to fundamentally ruin what is intimate and personal about filmmaking, which is that we’re playing dress-up and hoping not to be caught out.”

From

Schools are allowed to celebrate Halloween or "school dress-up or activity days" that feature costumes — but only if "there are not more than five such days in a school year."

From

She lists a few things — playing dress-up with her sister, negotiating with her father, and learning how to manipulate him to get what she wanted.

From

The resilience of these “based on a true story” series remains intact because so many of these fraudsters resemble the “Goop” founder, and got away with playing dress-up as part of the 1%.

From

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dress uniformdressy