Synonyms of dressing

dressing 1 of 2

noun

ˈdre-siŋ 

1

as in plaster

a medicated covering used to heal an injury

nurses put a dressing over his cuts so they wouldn't get infected

Synonyms & Similar Words

• plaster
• poultice
• cream
• cataplasm
• lotion
• salve
• ointment
• balm
• liniment
• unguent
• embrocation

2

as in sauce

a savory fluid food used as a topping or accompaniment to a main dish

tangy salad dressing that wasn't overloaded with corn syrup

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sauce
• gravy
• condiment
• seasoning
• relish
• topping
• garnish
• dip
• marinade
• fixing(s)

dressing

2 of 2

verb

present participle of dress

1

as in bandaging

to cover with a bandage

first wash and then dress the wound

Synonyms & Similar Words

• bandaging
• binding
• healing
• treating
• swathing
• attending
• curing
• ministering (to)
• nursing
• medicating
• doctoring
• rehabilitating
• remedying
• caring (for)
• mending

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unbandaging

2

as in decorating

to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming

let's dress up the room with some greenery for the holiday party

Synonyms & Similar Words

• decorating
• adorning
• draping
• trimming
• ornamenting
• embellishing
• garnishing
• painting
• decking
• beautifying
• enriching
• festooning
• embossing
• arraying
• doing
• bedecking
• gracing
• gussying up
• blazoning
• doing up
• caparisoning
• accessorizing
• bedizening
• emblazing
• prettying (up)
• fancifying
• dolling up
• trapping
• embroidering
• freshening
• glitzing (up)
• brightening
• smartening
• fancying up
• braiding
• flouncing
• ribboning
• garlanding
• hanging
• chasing
• frilling
• dressing up
• filleting
• swagging
• bossing
• tricking (out)
• figuring
• jeweling
• sprucing (up)
• fringing
• appliquéing
• wreathing
• gilding
• lacing
• redecorating
• feathering
• filigreeing
• redoing
• diamonding
• impearling
• furbelowing
• pearling
• gemming

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• spoiling
• disfiguring
• marring
• scarring
• streamlining
• displaying
• simplifying
• stripping
• defacing
• revealing
• exposing
• dismantling
• uncovering
• baring
• denuding
• blemishing
• divesting
• uglifying

3

as in polishing

to make smooth or glossy usually by repeatedly applying surface pressure

dress the granite block to be used as the headstone on all four sides

Synonyms & Similar Words

• polishing
• rubbing
• smoothing
• shining
• coating
• glossing
• scrubbing
• burnishing
• grinding
• furbishing
• scraping
• buffing
• finishing
• glazing
• bobbing
• sanding
• filing
• facing
• varnishing
• smoothening
• slicking
• brightening
• veneering
• japanning
• lacquering
• sleeking
• sandpapering
• scouring
• sandblasting
• boning
• lapping
• rasping

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• ruffling
• roughing (up)
• scuffing (up)
• roughening

4

as in clothing

to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes

dressed the young girl in satin and lace

Synonyms & Similar Words

• clothing
• attiring
• costuming
• draping
• gowning
• wrapping
• robing
• garbing
• suiting
• toileting
• garmenting
• furnishing
• appareling
• enrobing
• arraying
• caparisoning
• bedecking
• habiting
• vesturing
• rigging (out)
• decking (out)
• outfitting
• togging (up or out)
• getting up
• dressing up
• uniforming
• doing up
• frocking
• jacketing
• investing
• equipping
• tailoring
• cloaking
• swaddling
• huddling
• swathing
• mantling
• underdressing
• enswathing
• vesting
• habilitating
• happing
• accoutring
• dressing down
• bedighting

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• stripping
• undressing
• disrobing
• unclothing
• uncovering
• denuding
• untrussing
• disarraying
• unveiling
• divesting
• undraping

5

as in costuming

to put on one's best or formal clothes

we don't usually dress for dinner

Synonyms & Similar Words

• clothing
• costuming
• suiting
• dressing up
• primping
• dolling up
• decking
• accessorizing
• attiring
• prinking
• preening
• robing
• garbing
• investing
• smartening (up)
• arraying
• rigging (out)
• bedecking
• garmenting
• appareling
• bedizening
• togging (out or up)
• caparisoning
• duding (up)

6

as in growing

to look after or assist the growth of by labor and care

dress the beans by applying fertilizer once a week

Synonyms & Similar Words

• growing
• cultivating
• producing
• harvesting
• planting
• promoting
• cropping
• raising
• tending
• rearing
• culturing
• breeding
• propagating
• sowing
• gathering
• reaping
• sprouting
• ripening
• rooting
• gleaning
• germinating
• quickening

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• killing
• picking
• digging
• pulling (up)
• plucking
• cutting
• mowing
• uprooting
• extirpating
• haying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dressing

Noun

Use olive oil to cook vegetables or make a simple dressing with lemon juice and herbs. — Lindsey Desoto, HEALTH, 4 Nov. 2026

And the adorable potato salad of tiny red, yellow and purple tubers gets enrobed whole in a mayonnaise dressing. — Louisa Kung Liu Chu, Chicago Tribune, 3 Nov. 2026

Verb

Though its cohosts didn’t dress up for Halloween for the third consecutive year,The View once again continued its recent tradition of dressing children in increasingly bizarre costumes for the holiday. — Joey Nolfi, Entertainment Weekly, 30 Oct. 2026

But dressing as her also gave me a way to connect with the generation of women my mother and mother-in-law grew up with. — Cathy Cassata, Chicago Tribune, 29 Oct. 2026

Phrases Containing dressing

• window dressing