dolled up

Idioms  

1. Also, all dolled up. Dressed or fixed up smartly and, often, ostentatiously, usually for a special occasion. For example, There's no need to get all dolled up—it's just a picnic, or They dolled up the classroom for parents' night. This expression alludes to a person or object being as attractive as a pretty doll. It is also put verbally, to doll up, as in I wanted to doll up my apartment before the guests arrived. [Colloquial; c. 1900] Also see gussied up.

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Example Sentences

I don’t think voters would mind boring at all, if it was dolled up with credibility and competence.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 14, 2026

Priscilla appears on our screens all dolled up in a ’50s-style poodle skirt and penny loafers, an ensemble that screams innocence, especially when it’s coupled with Spaeny’s awestruck gaze and soft demeanor.

From Salon • Dec. 31, 2023

You won’t find a typical glazed or jelly doughnut behind the display case at Zuri’s, where wild combo flavors dolled up in technicolor are the counter shop’s M.O.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 4, 2023

It can easily be dolled up – made red with peppers or pink with beetroot and topped with pretty ingredients.

From BBC • Feb. 13, 2023

“Every day when she went out all dolled up, I said to myself, she is heading for a fall.”

From "Red Scarf Girl: A Memoir of the Cultural Revolution" by Ji-li Jiang