dress
Americannoun
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dresses
plural
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an outer garment for women and girls, consisting of bodice and skirt in one piece.
- Synonyms:
- frock
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clothing; apparel; garb.
The dress of the 18th century was colorful.
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formal attire.
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a particular form of appearance; guise.
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outer covering, as the plumage of birds.
adjective
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of or for a dress or dresses.
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of or for a formal occasion.
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requiring formal dress.
verb (used with object)
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dresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dressed,
past participle, past
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drest,
past participle, past (Obsolete)
-
dressing
present participle
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to put clothing upon.
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to put formal or evening clothes on.
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to trim; ornament; adorn.
to dress a store window; to dress a Christmas tree.
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to design clothing for or sell clothes to.
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to comb out and do up (hair).
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to cut up, trim, and remove the skin, feathers, viscera, etc., from (an animal, meat, fowl, or flesh of a fowl) for market or for cooking (often followed by out when referring to a large animal).
We dressed three chickens for the dinner. He dressed out the deer when he got back to camp.
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to prepare (skins, fabrics, timber, stone, ore, etc.) by special processes.
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to apply medication or a dressing to (a wound or sore).
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to make straight; bring (troops) into line.
to dress ranks.
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to make (stone, wood, or other building material) smooth.
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to cultivate (land, fields, etc.).
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Theater. to arrange (a stage) by effective placement of properties, scenery, actors, etc.
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to ornament (a vessel) with ensigns, house flags, code flags, etc..
The bark was dressed with masthead flags only.
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Angling.
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to prepare or bait (a fishhook) for use.
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to prepare (bait, especially an artificial fly) for use.
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Printing. to fit (furniture) around and between pages in a chase prior to locking it up.
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to supply with accessories, optional features, etc..
to have one's new car fully dressed.
verb (used without object)
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dresses,
present (3rd person singular)
-
dressed,
past participle, past
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drest,
past participle, past (Obsolete)
-
dressing
present participle
-
to clothe or attire oneself; put on one's clothes.
Wake up and dress, now!
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to put on or wear formal or fancy clothes.
to dress for dinner.
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to come into line, as troops.
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to align oneself with the next soldier, marcher, dancer, etc., in line.
verb phrase
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dress down
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to reprimand; scold.
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to thrash; beat.
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to dress informally or less formally.
to dress down for the shipboard luau.
-
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dress up
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to put on one's best or fanciest clothing; dress relatively formally.
They were dressed up for the Easter parade.
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to dress in costume or in another person's clothes.
to dress up in Victorian clothing; to dress up as Marie Antoinette.
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to embellish or disguise, especially in order to make more appealing or acceptable.
to dress up the facts with colorful details.
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idioms
verb
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to put clothes on (oneself or another); attire
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(intr)
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to change one's clothes
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to wear formal or evening clothes
-
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(tr) to provide (someone) with clothing; clothe
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(tr) to arrange merchandise in (a shop window) for effective display
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(tr) to comb out or arrange (the hair) into position
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(tr) to apply protective or therapeutic covering to (a wound, sore, etc)
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(tr) to prepare (food, esp fowl and fish) for cooking or serving by cleaning, trimming, gutting, etc
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(tr) to put a finish on (the surface of stone, metal, etc)
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(tr) to till and cultivate (land), esp by applying manure, compost, or fertilizer
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(tr) to prune and trim (trees, bushes, etc)
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(tr) to groom (an animal, esp a horse)
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(tr) to convert (tanned hides) into leather
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archaic (tr) to spay or neuter (an animal)
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angling to tie (a fly)
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military to bring (troops) into line or (of troops) to come into line (esp in the phrase dress ranks )
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nautical to decorate a vessel by displaying all signal flags on lines run from the bow to the stern over the mast trucks
noun
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a one-piece garment for a woman, consisting of a skirt and bodice
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complete style of clothing; costume
formal dress
military dress
-
(modifier) suitable or required for a formal occasion
a dress shirt
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the outer covering or appearance, esp of living things
trees in their spring dress of leaves
Usage
What does dress mean? A dress is a piece of clothing made up of a blouse and skirt in one piece. Dress can also refer to any formal attire, as in We’ve decided the wedding will be informal dress, with shorts and sneakers allowed. Dress can refer to clothing in general, especially for a specific group of people or time period, as in Men’s dress from the 1800s included top hats and greatcoats. To dress means to put clothes on or prepare for an event involving formal clothing, as in While pajamas are comfy, you do have to get dressed for school, you know. As an adjective, dress almost always refers to clothes thought to be fancy or formal, such as dress pants or dress shoes. Fancy dress usually means a costume for a ball or masquerade, however. Example: The event got cancelled right after I finished getting dressed for it.
Synonym Usage
Dress, costume, gown refer to garments for women. Dress is the general term for a garment: a black dress. Costume is used of the style of dress appropriate to some occasion, purpose, period, or character, especially as used on the stage, at balls, at court, or the like, and may apply to men's garments as well: an 18th-century costume. Gown is usually applied to a dress more expensive and elegant than the ordinary, usually long, to be worn on a special occasion: a wedding gown.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
dresssimple
-
dressessimple
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have dressedperfect
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have drestperfect
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has dressedperfect
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has drestperfect
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am dressingprogressive
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are dressingprogressive
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is dressingprogressive
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have been dressingperfect progressive
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has been dressingperfect progressive
Past
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dressedsimple
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drestsimple
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had dressedperfect
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had drestperfect
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was dressingprogressive
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were dressingprogressive
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had been dressingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of dress
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English dressen, from Anglo-French dresser, dresc(i)er, “to arrange, prepare,” Old French drecier, from unattested Vulgar Latin dīrēctiāre, derivative of Latin dīrēctus direct; noun use of verb in sense “attire” from circa 1600
Explanation
When you dress, you put your clothes on. A dress is also a kind of one-piece shirt and skirt combo that can be fancy or plain. You can also dress a salad with salad dressing! When you’re putting your clothes on, it’s usually phrased “get dressed.” If you dress up, you’re putting on something special. You can also dress another person — you might dress a toddler in a snowsuit or dress your dog in a sweater. When you dress a turkey for Thanksgiving, you don't clothe it, you simply prepare it for cooking. This is the oldest meaning of dress, which comes from the Old French dresser, "prepare, arrange, set a table, serve food."
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
American star Kylie Jenner closed the show, draped in a voluminous black dress.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
Andy Warhol and people would dress me up and put me out there.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
Catherine wore a purple, floor-length Jenny Packham dress.
From BBC ● Sep. 23, 2026
The dress reportedly needs to be stored at a temperature between 59 and 64 degrees.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
That night flames shot up from the bonfire in front of the house, and Maggie danced with Francey, danced in Mam’s red dress, her hair streaming out in back of her.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
Did my frugal mindset falter for vintage dresses, bookstore runs and glasses of tinto de verano while I was abroad?
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 22, 2026
For the rest of the convention, he was subjected to Trump’s regular insults about how he dresses poorly and looks bad.
From Slate ● Sep. 21, 2026
A press release from Sotheby's said it is the first time the dress has been offered at auction since 1997, when the late princess sold 79 of her dresses to raise money for charities.
From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026
Dickson said the brand had missed the mark in key summer categories such as dresses, shorts and bathing suits and that its marketing failed to drive enough business.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
I endowed that word “all” with special meaning, and pressed dresses and packed trunks in a delirium of anticipation.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
The No. 54 is a pastrami and corned beef combo sandwich, dressed in the style of the No. 19, with Swiss cheese, coleslaw and Russian dressing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Standout sophomore defensive lineman Jahkeem Stewart was dressed and looking ready to return at the start of USC’s Week 2 win over Louisiana.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026
“Snow” is a middling pop number dressed up with a trebly pulsating synth, while “Bass Persuades Remixx” is a decent rework of the opening track, adding some sawtooth synths and switching up the percussion.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
"Everybody has been dressed really minimalist in a specific quiet luxury way and I think people are tired of that," she notes.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
Someone had painted faces on the round tops, and they were dressed in overalls, or suits, or dresses—even a preacher’s outfit.
From "The Seven Wonders of Sassafras Springs" by Betty G. Birney
Members of Congress: “little mannikins, shrewd, gabby, drest in black, hopping about, making motions, amendments.”
From Washington Post ● Apr. 17, 2020
The quote from Blake might be bookended by one from Walt Whitman, who wrote that “whoever walks a furlong without sympathy walks to his own funeral drest in his shroud.”
From New York Times ● Mar. 3, 2020
All the young maidens fra fourteen to thirty-nine, six-abreast, drest i sky blue, and singin throo combs.
From Random Rhymes and Rambles by William Aldis Wright
I hear Count Bassino's Music: He gives a Mask To-night; you are already drest for Masquerade, won't you stay and take a Dance?
From The Perjur'd Husband by Susanna Centlivre
The fair'st flower that e're bosome drest; My soule's sweet rest.
From The Complete Works of Richard Crashaw, Volume I (of 2) by Richard Crashaw
Pietersen was the most intriguing of appointments to England's dressing room staff because of his own history, but also what he has said before.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
Room Rater built an audience scoring Zoom backgrounds for lighting, depth, art and visible cords; books themselves became set dressing.
From Salon ● Sep. 23, 2026
Other highlights include an open, corner living and dining room, walls of windows, a chef’s kitchen, and a main bedroom with a formal dressing area and an en suite bathroom with a soaking tub.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 23, 2026
Now the company that made casual dressing cool in the ’90s is riding shotgun on another ’90s trend: the American boy band.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 22, 2026
Our days in Baltimore were busy with socializing and eavesdropping, not to mention dressing up in our fine gowns.
From "The Detective's Assistant" by Kate Hannigan
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
