spruce (up)

verb

ˈsprüs How to pronounce spruce (up) (audio)
Definition of spruce (up)next
as in to trim
to make neat hurriedly sprucing up the hotel dining room before the breakfast crowd began showing up

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for spruce (up)
  1. trim
  2. organize
  3. arrange
Verb
  • This year’s Democrats are making hard plays for northeast Ohio, at least to trim the GOP margins.
    — David Weigel, semafor.com, 14 Oct. 2026
  • Amid the ongoing labor negotiations in baseball, which is widely expected to result in a work stoppage this winter, MLB agreed to trim the requirement to five years for players over 30 years old.
    — Justin Birnbaum, Sportico.com, 14 Oct. 2026
Definition of trim
Verb
  • The team’s last-second win over the Philadelphia Eagles last week in Tottenham Hotspur Stadium was organized and operated by the NFL, part of the league’s more standard rotation of all teams playing overseas.
    — Eben Novy-Williams, Sportico.com, 16 Oct. 2026
  • Workers are organizing at manufacturing plants, in newsrooms, in technology, in hospitals, on college campuses, and construction sites.
    — Liz Shuler, Time, 15 Oct. 2026
Definition of organize
Verb
  • For a bit of an over-the-top perk, the concierge is able to arrange helicopter services to NASA through its rooftop helipad, as well as myriad other special excursions.
    — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 16 Oct. 2026
  • While Sabrina’s identical twin sister, Virginia, was arranged to marry a Chinese American man in the States who spoke no Cantonese, Sabrina wouldn’t let her parents stop their love— or stop her from getting pregnant.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2026
Definition of arrange
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.

Browse Nearby Words

spruces (up)
spruce (up)
sprucing
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Cite this Entry

“Spruce (up).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/spruce%20%28up%29. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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