dress up

See also: dress-up

English

Verb

dress up (third-person singular simple present dresses up, present participle dressing up, simple past and past participle dressed up)

1. (intransitive) To put on special or fancy clothes.

   Synonym: (US) gussy up

   Antonym: dress down

   Everyone dressed up for the graduation ball.

   I want a job where I don't have to dress up.

2. (intransitive, often with 'as') To put on a costume portraying oneself as a particular type of character or well-known person.

   We're having a party on Saturday, but you must dress up as a famous historical figure.

3. (transitive, often with 'as') To put a costume on (someone) portraying them as a particular type of character or well-known person.

   The cat hated when they dressed him up for Halloween.

4. (transitive) To decorate; to prettify.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Mistress, your father prays you leave your books,
     And help to dress your sister’s chamber up:
     You know to-morrow is the wedding-day.

5. (transitive) To present in a favorable light.

   Synonym: spin

   You can dress up that proposal however you want; it's still going to go over like a lead balloon.

Coordinate terms

• cosplay

Derived terms

• dressed up
• dress-up

Translations

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Armenian: զուգվել (hy) (zugvel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 打扮 (zh) (dǎbàn)

• Esperanto: alivestiĝi
• French: se costumer (fr)
• German: aufputzen, sich herausputzen, sich verkleiden
• Hungarian: kiöltözik (hu)
• Italian: agghindarsi (it), vestirsi a festa, mettersi in ghingheri
• Japanese: 着飾る (きかざる, kikazaru)
• Russian: наряди́ться (ru) (narjadítʹsja), приоде́ться (ru) (priodétʹsja)
• Spanish: ponerse bonito, embellecer (es)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} ăn mặc đàng hoàng , ^{(please verify)} ăn mặc sang trọng (vi)

to put on special or fancy clothes

• Azerbaijani: bəzəmək (az)
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi), pukeutua (siististi, hienosti, tyylikkäästi), laittautua (fi)
• Polish: stroić się (pl) impf, wystroić się (pl) pf, wystrajać się impf
• Spanish: vestirse de gala, ponerse elegante, engalanarse (es), emperifollarse (es)
• Swedish: klä upp sig
• Yiddish: זיך אויספּוצן‎ (zikh oysputsn)

to put on a costume portraying oneself as a particular character or figure

• Dutch: verkleden (nl)
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kle seg ut

• Polish: przebierać się, przebrać się
• Swedish: klä ut sig (sv)

to present in a better light

• Polish: ubierać (pl) impf, ubrać (pl) pf
• Swedish: skönmåla (sv)