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

Pinkchyu got a full shopping spree, which included Drizzy dressing up as a goth to match her energy. — Armon Sadler, Rolling Stone, 16 Sep. 2026

And then there’s Michael Kors, bringing all the drama with animal prints, fringe, and elevated fabrics that encourage dressing up, even when the calendar says Tuesday. — Camila Quimper, Footwear News, 11 Sep. 2026

In past episodes, this has meant dressing up as Sigmund Freud in Vienna, singing with The Irish Tenors in Dublin, and facing off with a python in Bangkok. — Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 17 Aug. 2026

Halloween 2026 is already shaping up to be a big year for coordinated costumes, with families getting creative about dressing up together. — ABC News, 12 Aug. 2026

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

Today, dressing up as an athlete, the same as in any public-facing career, is an unavoidable profile-raising effort. — Leah Dolan, CNN Money, 15 July 2026

Summerween treats dressing up as a warm-weather activity, no trick-or-treating required. — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 8 July 2026