spruce up

phrasal 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

This spacious Three Posts wood planter box from Wayfair is versatile enough to spruce up a patio, balcony, or garden space. —Rachel Trujillo, People.com, 27 June 2025

Visitors and residents will even notice two recently spruced up South L.A. high schools. —Chadd Scott, Forbes.com, 19 June 2025

The interior, of course, was also thoroughly spruced up. —Will Sabel Courtney, Robb Report, 5 June 2025

Prints When in doubt, a vintage print is almost always a great buy for sprucing up a space. —Nicole Letts, Southern Living, 14 June 2025

Rhymes for spruce up

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