dress up

dressed up; dressing up; dresses up

Definition of dress up

transitive verb

1 : to make more attractive, glamorous, or fancy dress up a plain dessert with a rich chocolate sauce

2a : to attire in best or formal clothes

b : to attire in clothes suited to a particular role

3 : to present in the most attractive or impressive light a fiasco dressed up as a triumph

intransitive verb

: to get dressed up

Synonyms More Example Sentences Learn More about dress up

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Examples of dress up in a Sentence

we always like to dress up when going to parties the war was a fiasco that the administration tried to dress up as a triumph

Recent Examples on the Web Often called Furries, the community sometimes dresses up as animals and gathers at social events. — Tyler Eagle, Detroit Free Press, "Monroe police shooting suspect Simba Lion in critical condition," 21 Nov. 2019 Digital filters such as those on Instagram can dress up a humdrum photo. — Tribune News Service, cleveland, "Try these tips to get great travel photos," 10 Nov. 2019 For Halloween this year, seven-year-old Logan Cain dressed up as the country music legend—and his impression was so spot-on that even Brooks himself took notice. — Perri Ormont Blumberg, Southern Living, "Garth Brooks Invites Youngster to His Knoxville Concert After Seeing His Amazing Halloween Costume," 1 Nov. 2019 In honor of Halloween, kids are dressing up as Fixer Upper stars Chip and Joanna Gaines. — Selena Barrientos, House Beautiful, "These Kids Dressed Up as Chip and Joanna Gaines are Doing Halloween Right," 31 Oct. 2019 Some of Buttigieg’s campaign workers also dressed up like him during a campaign stop in New Hampshire on Thursday. — BostonGlobe.com, "@PeteButtigieg," 31 Oct. 2019 Regina King stars as Angela Abar, also known as Sister Knight, a black lady cop with a big job to do dressing up and fighting bad guys. — Troy Patterson, The New Yorker, "The Time-Bomb Tension and Thrilling Surreality of HBO’s “Watchmen”," 18 Oct. 2019 Arthur's day job is dressing up as a clown for hire, doing birthday parties, promotional gigs, hospital visits, and the like. — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, "Review: Joker is a powerful portrayal of a troubled man’s descent into madness," 7 Oct. 2019 Guests are also encouraged to dress up in cosplay for the event. — Dahlia Ghabour, The Courier-Journal, "From 'Guardians of the Galaxy' to 'Doctor Who,' GalaxyCon is about to take over Louisville," 18 Nov. 2019

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dress up.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

6 Dec 2019

Cite this Entry

“Dress up.” The Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Inc., https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/dressed%20up. Accessed 14 December 2019.

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