cosmeticize

verb

Definition of cosmeticizenext
as in to spruce

Related Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for cosmeticize
  1. spruce
  2. improve
  3. soup up
  4. doll up
  5. trick
  6. embellish
Verb
  • Prince Harry even spruced the place up to Meghan’s liking while the couple was dating, per People, and proposed to her in the walled garden outside of the cottage in 2017.
    — Bailey Bujnosek, InStyle, 20 June 2026
  • And these pieces don’t need much to spruce them up either.
    — Michelle Mastro, The Spruce, 20 June 2026
Definition of spruce
Verb
  • Lawmakers have introduced bills to strengthen prevention programs, improve behavioral health services, regulate sober living environments and give local governments additional tools to respond to homelessness.
    — Ray Bramson, Washington Post, 15 July 2026
  • Chen’s work focuses on using seismological data to improve methods to identify and monitor nuclear tests.
    — Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 15 July 2026
Definition of improve
Verb
  • The hurricane center’s forecast model, the Global Forecast System, has also been souped up to provide hourly guidance to meteorologists up to five days out.
    — Miami Herald Archives, Miami Herald, 3 June 2026
  • It had been conceived by one Trevor and souped up by another, both of them newcomers and one not even an official member.
    — Andy Cush, Pitchfork, 9 May 2026
Definition of soup up
Verb
  • Looking to doll up your collarbones instead?
    — Stacia Datskovska, Footwear News, 7 Oct. 2025
  • The store had to be closed for several days while volunteers set the dolls up for display, and only 25 shoppers could be allowed in at a time for viewing because of the dolls’ values.
    — Elizabeth Marie Himchak, San Diego Union-Tribune, 26 Aug. 2025
Definition of doll up
Verb
  • These fraudulent sites often mimic legitimate stores or rank high in search results, tricking desperate consumers into buying non-existent AC units.
    — Steve Weisman, Forbes.com, 5 July 2026
  • The revenge story saw Tucker's exes convincing Snow's Kate to trick the ladies' man into falling in love with her.
    — Rachel McRady, PEOPLE, 4 July 2026
Definition of trick
Verb
  • The interior of the clutch was further embellished with blue florals against a white backdrop.
    — Julia Teti, Footwear News, 15 July 2026
  • These were small masterpieces embellished with gold and vivid enamels.
    — Selene Oliva, Glamour, 13 July 2026
Definition of embellish
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Browse Nearby Words

cosmetic cases
cosmeticize
cosmeticized
See all Nearby Words

Podcast

Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP

Cite this Entry

“Cosmeticize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/cosmeticize. Accessed 19 Jul. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?

Commonly Misspelled Words
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

The Longest Long Words List

Ten Words Ending with a Silent ‘T’

The Words of the Week - Jul 17
See More

Popular

See More

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
child-detective
Spot the Misspelled Word July 2026 Those little red underlines can't help you now...
See All