spruce up

verb

spruced up; sprucing up; spruces up

: to make (someone or something) look cleaner, neater, or more attractive

We spruced up the room with a fresh coat of paint.

I need to spruce myself up a bit before we go out to dinner.

Did you know?

titivate, spruce up, smarten up, or spiff up?

Titivate, spruce, smarten, and spiff all mean "to make a person or thing neater or more attractive." Titivate often refers to making small additions or alterations in attire ("titivate the costume with sequins and other accessories"), but it can also be used figuratively (as in "titivating the script for Broadway"). Spruce up is sometimes used for cosmetic changes or renovations that give the appearance of newness ("spruce up the house with new shutters and fresh paint before trying to sell it"). Smarten up and spiff up both mean to improve in appearance often by making more neat or stylish ("the tailor smartened up the suit with minor alterations"; "he needed some time to spiff himself up for the party"). The origins of titivate are uncertain, but it may have been formed from the English words tidy and renovate.

Examples of spruce up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

There are plenty of affordable and festive options, from pumpkins to candles to rustic wood accents, that can spruce up your home and add a warm, colorful fall atmosphere. — Bestreviews, Chicago Tribune, 5 Nov. 2026

Use a microfiber cloth and a suitable household cleaner to spruce up cabinet fronts, handles, and appliance exteriors, paying extra attention to areas around the stove where grease tends to collect. — Brigitt Earley, Martha Stewart, 4 Nov. 2026

Tishman’s people have spent the past few years sprucing up Rockefeller Center — the oldest portions of which are comparable in age to the Chrysler Building, though they’ve been better maintained — and trying to make its retail spaces more of a draw. — Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 7 Oct. 2026

Spooky Season is on its way — and Worlds of Fun has spruced up its annual attraction. — Kansas City Star, 18 Sep. 2026

Rhymes for spruce up

• buttercup
• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup