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

Some of the Bowl’s facilities have been dolled up a bit, but the amphitheater feels fragile after the January wildfires.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 10, 2025

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

This Lynnwood shop has a cult following in the North End for its wacky flavor combo doughnuts dolled up in Technicolor.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 19, 2023

“She was all dolled up in cheap punky gear, the kind of club kid who looked absurdly out of place in a cardiac ward,” Mr. Stein recalled.

From Washington Post • Apr. 3, 2023

Wouldn’t Aunt Ivy get a wrench in her whalebone corset to see me dolled up?

From "Hattie Big Sky" by Kirby Larson