bedizen

American

[bih-dahy-zuhn, -diz-uhn] / bɪˈdaɪ zən, -ˈdɪz ən /

verb (used with object)

to dress or adorn in a showy, gaudy, or tasteless manner.

She was bedizened in a sequined gown and an enormous feathered headpiece.
To my dismay, the new PR team bedizened our website with animated images and text.

bedizen British

/ bɪˈdaɪzən, -ˈdɪzən /

verb

archaic (tr) to dress or decorate gaudily or tastelessly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

bedizenment noun
unbedizened adjective

Etymology

Origin of bedizen

First recorded in 1655–65; be- + dizen

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.

Elsie de Wolfe, famed mistress of decor, paid a professional compliment when she engaged Artist Wilson to bedizen her shop.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unfazed, the Lip zipped to Manhattan to bedizen his ample middle with a $500 gold-plated championship belt from Ring Magazine.

From Time Magazine Archive

Now, all Mildred's beads, feather boas, and skin-tight finery bedizen the substantial person of Kim Novak.

From Time Magazine Archive

Saab, IBM, MasterCard and clear-beer Zima are among the sponsors whose winking logos bedizen every screenful of Word.

From Time Magazine Archive

Oh yes, I will bedizen myself to oblige her.

From Clever Woman of the Family by Yonge, Charlotte Mary

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023