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

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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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
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

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of dressing up 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 Fair highlights Despite the ongoing issues, the sparse number of visitors entertained themselves with interactive exhibits, like dressing up as former President George Washington or speaking with an actress portraying Betsy Ross. — Michelle Del Rey, USA Today, 26 June 2026 Rachel Smith, co-organizer of the convention and co-founder of Mermaid and Mom, a mermaid party entertainment business, told The Sacramento Bee in 2025 that the California Mermaid Convention brings together water enthusiasts who care for the environment and love dressing up. — Don Sweeney, Sacbee.com, 14 May 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for dressing up
  1. dressing
  2. disguising
  3. sweetening
  4. clothing
  5. masking
  6. improving
  7. doing up
  8. camouflaging
Verb
  • And Beckham surged onto the 53-man roster with late camp production, while Slayton seemed to become an afterthought in quarterback progressions and targets and in usage, dressing and playing the first half of that final exhibition.
    — Pat Leonard, New York Daily News, 31 Aug. 2026
  • Top dressing your lawn improves soil health, helping your grass grow stronger, greener, and more resilient over time.
    — Helena Madden, Martha Stewart, 29 Aug. 2026
Definition of dressing
Verb
  • John is then abducted by a group led by an alien named Antaan, who tells him about the Manhunters—ancient synthetic predecessors to the Green Lantern Corps capable of disguising themselves as other species.
    — Erik Kain, Forbes.com, 30 Aug. 2026
  • Pitchers are disguising their four-seamers up with more cutters in than ever before, so just advising him to be more aggressive in the zone is not good enough.
    — Eno Sarris, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of disguising
Verb
  • Insufficient light reduces fruit production, stops the plums from sweetening, and leaves the tree vulnerable to fungal diseases.
    — SJ McShane, Martha Stewart, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Rob McDaniel, executive chef of Bayonet and Helen in Birmingham, Alabama, supports this idea for sweetening your tea.
    — Taylor Tobin, Southern Living, 18 July 2026
Definition of sweetening
Verb
  • Not feeding the hungry, not tending to the sick, not clothing the naked, not welcoming the refugee.
    — Alexandra Petri, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026
  • This is like inviting a homeless person into your home, sheltering them, feeding them, clothing them, educating them, and having that person's confidant leak that the newly comfortable person doesn't think less of you.
    — Armando Salguero OutKick, FOXNews.com, 22 May 2026
Definition of clothing
Verb
  • Many cope by masking or camouflaging — suppressing autistic traits in order to fit in.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The national averages, however, risk masking the legions in restrictive states still not accessing care.
    — David N. Hackney, STAT, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of masking
Verb
  • Pawloski said Amazon seemed to invest fewer resources into improving MTurk at the same time as more data labeling services arrived, causing many turkers to shift to competing platforms.
    — Annie Palmer, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
  • The broader shift is that AI content quality is improving while the barrier to creation is becoming lower.
    — Connie Etemadi, USA Today, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of improving
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
Verb
  • Many cope by masking or camouflaging — suppressing autistic traits in order to fit in.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
  • Over decades, the tides shift surrounding sand while marine life, like algae, grows over the device, camouflaging it into the natural ocean environment.
    — Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 July 2026
Definition of camouflaging

Browse Nearby Words

dressings
dressing up
dress rehearsal
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Dressing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dressing%20up. Accessed 1 Sep. 2026.

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