dress up

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verb

Definition of DRESS UP

1

to put on one's best or formal clothes <we always like to dress up when going to parties>

Synonyms doll up, dress

Related Words preen, primp, prink, smarten (up); accessorize; apparel, array, attire, bedeck, bedizen, caparison, clothe, costume, deck, dude (up), garb, garment, invest, rig (out), robe, suit, tog (out or up)

2

to change the dress or looks of so as to conceal true identity <the war was a fiasco that the administration tried to dress up as a triumph>

Synonyms camouflage, cloak, dress up, mask

Related Words blanket, blot out, conceal, cover, curtain, enshroud, hide, obscure, occult, screen, shroud, veil; affect, assume, counterfeit, dissemble, dissimulate, feign, pose, pretend, sham, simulate; act, fake, impersonate, masquerade, play; cosmeticize, gild, gloss (over), varnish, whitewash

Near Antonyms display, exhibit, expose, flaunt, parade, show, uncloak, unclothe, uncover, undrape, unveil; bare, betray, disclose, discover, divulge, expose, reveal

Antonyms unmask

3

to make more desirable <dressed up the house with new windows and a paint job before putting it on the market>

Synonyms candy, dress up, enhance

Related Words ameliorate, enrich, improve, meliorate; embellish, soup up, trick; cosmeticize, doll up, spruce

4

to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes <the girls were dressed up in skirts or dresses, but the boys were wearing jeans>

Synonyms apparel, array, attire, bedeck, caparison, costume, deck (out), do up, dress, dress up, enrobe, garb, garment, get up, gown, habit, invest, rig (out), robe, suit, tog (up or out), toilet, vesture

Related Words cloak, frock, jacket, mantle, vest; drape, enswathe, hap [dialect], huddle, swaddle, swathe, wrap; accoutre (or accouter), bedight [archaic], equip, furnish, habilitate, outfit, tailor, uniform; dress down, underdress

Near Antonyms denude, divest, uncover, undrape, unveil

Antonyms disarray, disrobe, strip, unclothe, undress, untruss [archaic]