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

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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
  • 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
  • For the past two decades, Caneer has co-chaired an endowed swimming scholarship honoring his former coach, Dick Anderson, whose name also adorns the university’s swimming facility.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 23 July 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
  • Regardless, men behaving in a repulsed or shocked way when a man dresses feminine or in women’s clothing is homophobic.
    — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 22 July 2026
Definition of dresses
Verb
  • Granted, save for one image on a TV screen, no one wears a Green Lantern mask or outfit in the Lanterns pilot, but the wheels of its story have been in motion for decades by the time its premise unfolds.
    — Siddhant Adlakha, Vulture, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Sadie Sink plays Jean Grey as a Gen Zer malcontent who wears a hoodie and whose affect suggests a steady diet of Sylvia Plath.
    — Peter Tonguette, The Washington Examiner, 15 Aug. 2026
Definition of wears
Verb
  • 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
  • The painting that decorates the ceiling, Apollo Slaying the Serpent Python, was created by the artist Eugène Delacroix.
    — News Desk, Artforum, 22 July 2026
Definition of decorates
Verb
  • This Amazon style has a similar polished pointed-toe design that not only dresses up your outfit but also elongates your legs.
    — Nicol Natale, PEOPLE, 30 June 2026
  • Allie dresses up as Jennifer Lopez—plunging green Versace dress and all.
    — Kenneal Patterson, Vanity Fair, 29 May 2026
Definition of dresses up
Verb
  • For any Iranian woman who captures or kills an American service member, Hatami said the reward would be doubled.
    — August 17, CBS News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • This movie is based around the multiverse, which is a concept of Doomsday, of course, but this could confirm some rumors that Doom kills Tobey Maguire’s Spidey in the Raimi universe – or that Tom Holland is showing up in some capacity.
    — Paul Tassi, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of kills
Verb
  • However, Sacramento does in fact have a restaurant that merges these cuisines in an elegant and very personal way.
    — Sean Timberlake, Sacbee.com, 24 July 2026
  • Not everyone went slowly insane under such circumstances, as Bartleby does in Melville’s story, but the experience was disorienting all the same.
    — Jake Lundberg, The Atlantic, 23 July 2026
Definition of does in
Verb
  • 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
  • Watching this scene, and much of the film, exhausts me.
    — Jenny Odell, Longreads, 2 June 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
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Cite this Entry

“Does up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/does%20up. Accessed 20 Aug. 2026.

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