smartening (up)

verb

present participle of smarten (up)
as in prinking

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Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for smartening (up)
  1. primping
  2. dressing up
Verb
  • Plus, check out the rest of her hair primping routine, below.
    — Tamim Alnuweiri, InStyle, 5 July 2026
  • The small reception desk seems tight on space, but most employees are out in the lobby welcoming guests, straightening pillows in the waterfront lounge, and primping the magnificent flower arrangements anyway.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 2 June 2026
Definition of primping
Verb
  • 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
Definition of dressing 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.

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smartening
smartening (up)
smartens
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Cite this Entry

“Smartening (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/smartening%20%28up%29. Accessed 29 Jul. 2026.

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