Synonyms of dressing up

dressing up

verb

present participle of dress up

1

as in dressing

to put on one's best or formal clothes

we always like to dress up when going to parties

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

2

as in disguising

to change the dress or looks of so as to conceal true identity

the war was a fiasco that the administration tried to dress up as a triumph

Synonyms & Similar Words

• disguising
• masking
• camouflaging
• concealing
• hiding
• simulating
• cloaking
• blotting out
• covering
• obscuring
• posing
• assuming
• affecting
• screening
• glossing (over)
• masquerading
• playing
• curtaining
• occulting
• pretending
• veiling
• shrouding
• blanketing
• enshrouding
• feigning
• shamming
• counterfeiting
• dissimulating
• dissembling
• acting
• faking
• varnishing
• impersonating
• cosmeticizing
• whitewashing
• gilding

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• unmasking
• showing
• displaying
• exhibiting
• exposing
• flaunting
• uncovering
• unveiling
• parading
• undraping
• disclosing
• revealing
• discovering
• baring
• unclothing
• betraying
• divulging
• uncloaking

3

as in sprucing

to make more desirable

dressed up the house with new windows and a paint job before putting it on the market

Synonyms & Similar Words

• sprucing
• sweetening
• improving
• enhancing
• candying
• souping up
• meliorating
• ameliorating
• enriching
• tricking
• dolling up
• embellishing
• cosmeticizing

4

as in clothing

to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes

the girls were dressed up in skirts or dresses, but the boys were wearing jeans

Synonyms & Similar Words

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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of dressing up

The Gossip Girl alum, whose on-screen alter ego was rarely one to shy away from a fabulous party and who, IRL, famously styles herself, has long shared that affinity for dressing up. — Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 4 Nov. 2026

But dressing up for Kardashian is also about designer glamour. — Michelle Lee, PEOPLE, 3 Nov. 2026

Fine jewelry designer Lauren Harwell Godfrey and Savas founder Savannah Yarborough are making a compelling case for dressing up Western wear. — Thomas Waller, Footwear News, 29 Oct. 2026

After dressing up as an anthropomorphic worm, an incredibly realistic ET, and a chimpanzee complete with prosthetic facial features and ears, the supermodel is ready to amaze us once again. — Alfredo Toriello, Vanity Fair, 28 Oct. 2026

Earlier this week, Kardashian started the trend by dressing up as her 13-year-old daughter, trading her typical skintight uniform for her teen’s more tomboyish emo aesthetic. — Isabella Albaig, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026

Their theme is Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, with the racers dressing up as the movie characters for race day. — Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026

Plus, the medium wash with light fading is great for dressing up or dressing down. — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 20 Oct. 2026

Let Emma Bovary daydream about dressing up in a velvet dress and playing an Érard grand piano for a Parisian audience. — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026