1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

does up

verb

present tense third-person singular of do up
1
as in adorns
to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming the whole house had been done up for Halloween

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in clothes
to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes on Wild West Day some of the women came to the office done up as showgirls, while the men were mostly outlaws

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in wears
to use up all the physical energy of all of this fussing about the wedding has done me up

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for does up
  1. adorns
  2. dresses
  3. wears
  4. decorates
  5. dresses up
  6. kills
  7. does in
  8. exhausts
Verb
  • The story of Sue and Ron Wilson's life together, happily spanning 60 years, adorns their apartment.
    — Jeff Wagner, CBS News, 27 Aug. 2026
  • Being the kind of person who adorns themselves compulsively opens you up to a slew of corny metaphors that, against your will, feel deeply relevant to you.
    — Julissa James, Los Angeles Times, 12 Aug. 2026
Definition of adorns
Verb
  • Later, CeCe dresses her up in a pink tutu and makes up a dance for her kitten.
    — Parents, Parents, 31 July 2026
  • Young, who dresses Dakota Johnson, Julianne Moore, and Scarlett Johansson, spotlighted it as an essential for summer travel in her latest Quince curation.
    — Olivia Cigliano, InStyle, 31 July 2026
Definition of dresses
Verb
  • Underneath a Blossom-style hat, the model wears a set of enormous mismatched silver earrings that graze the shoulders of her sharp black blazer.
    — Julia Hobbs, Vogue, 18 Sep. 2026
  • Outside of Sezane, the queen of Spain often wears shoe designs by Aquazzura, Calzados Picón, Carolina Herrera, Hugo Boss, Magrit and more.
    — Karla Rodriguez, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026
Definition of wears
Verb
  • As strikes hit multiple Ukrainian regions and Russia’s Belgorod, Zelensky disputes claims of an energy-infrastructure truce while Moscow decorates a Baltic Sea ship captain and confirms a general’s death.
    — Hanna Arhirova, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The print decorates a semi-sheer collarless evening jacket, an ideal day-to-night piece, according to Brock.
    — Ari Stark, Footwear News, 22 July 2026
Definition of decorates
Verb
  • The eye-catching hem instantly dresses up a pair of basic blue jeans, especially when styled with a blouse or sweater.
    — Nicol Natale, PEOPLE, 16 Sep. 2026
  • In the dark comedy Bad Santa, Thornton plays Willie, a miserable, heavy-drinking con man who dresses up as Santa with his elf sidekick (Tony Cox) to rob department stores on Christmas Eve.
    — Leigh Blickley, Entertainment Weekly, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of dresses up
Verb
  • Its bubbling action lifts dirt, kills bacteria, and removes mold and mildew without harsh fumes.
    — Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 20 Sep. 2026
  • Lizzie subsequently kills Manchester with a hatchet, with Maggie present, before the pair turn their attention to Andrew and Abby.
    — Samantha Stutsman, PEOPLE, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of kills
Verb
  • There’s not many around that give you what Ben does in terms of his physicality, playing on the last line, his speed to run in behind.
    — Cerys Jones, New York Times, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Meta could introduce technical solutions, like automatically blurring faces, as Google does in Street View images, but Szydlowski doubts Meta would voluntarily make such a privacy-conscious change without regulatory or public pressure.
    — Ashley Belanger, ArsTechnica, 21 Aug. 2026
Definition of does in
Verb
  • If a bureaucratic process exhausts whatever time a citizen has available, then benefits are lost or rights are denied.
    — Joshua Rothman, New Yorker, 14 Aug. 2026
  • That’s because even ordinary winds – and far worse, storms and earthquakes – cause tall buildings to sway, which ruins people’s concentration, wrecks their mood, and even exhausts them.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 July 2026
Definition of exhausts
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

does the trick
does up
doff
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Does up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/does%20up. Accessed 23 Sep. 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

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Why do we use apostrophes to show possession?

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

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

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

Back to School Vocabulary

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

Why do we say 'fly off the handle'?
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
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
crayons-in-a-circle
Guess the Color Quiz Questions that use the whole box of crayons.
See All