dolling up

verb

present participle of doll up
1
as in decorating
to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming if you were to doll up those Shaker-style rooms, you'd ruin their simple elegance

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in dressing
to put on one's best or formal clothes got all dolled up for the party

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dolling up
  1. decorating
  2. dressing
  3. adorning
  4. dressing up
  5. doing up
Verb
  • For centuries, India’s rulers treasured these precious stones, decorating their palaces, thrones, and crowns with them, and wearing them in lavish displays of wealth and opulence.
    — Rhea Mogul, CNN Money, 9 Aug. 2026
  • Since pattern sandwiching isn’t exactly for decorating wallflowers, color (and lots of it) is welcomed.
    — Kelsey Mulvey, Vogue, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of decorating
Verb
  • While formality levels vary from one workplace to the next, some interview-dressing guidelines almost always are worth following.
    — Cathy Bussewitz, Fortune, 7 Aug. 2026
  • According to Jeanette Madsen, the co-founder of Danish label Rotate, the Scandinavian style set has always taken an artsy approach to dressing.
    — Kelsey Stewart, InStyle, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of dressing
Verb
  • Black shirt, black shorts, thin sheen of sweat adorning his expressive forehead.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 July 2026
  • Aside from the art adorning the bakeware and towels, Yeh’s lifestyle and personality are also infused into the assortment’s physical design.
    — Claire Hoppe Norgaard, Better Homes & Gardens, 22 July 2026
Definition of adorning
Verb
  • Roberts is far from alone in dressing up the denim — Jessica Alba and Oprah have, too.
    — Shea Simmons, PEOPLE, 2 Aug. 2026
  • Some edtech has developed its own flavor of that problem by dressing up excessive gamification as a motivation system.
    — Richard Carranza, Forbes.com, 23 July 2026
Definition of dressing up
Verb
  • What in the world are those overgrown basketballs doing up there?
    — Rui Bo, The Conversation, 18 May 2026
  • Wednesday’s practice started with some of the players doing up-downs after forgetting equipment.
    — Anthony Solorzano, Los Angeles Times, 26 Mar. 2026
Definition of doing up
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

dollies
dolling up
dollish
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Cite this Entry

“Dolling up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dolling%20up. Accessed 12 Aug. 2026.

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