dress-up
adjective
being an occasion, situation, etc., for which one must be somewhat formally well-dressed.
dress-up
American
[dres-uhp]
/ ˈdrɛsˌʌp /
adjective
noun
dress up
British
verb
-
to attire (oneself or another) in one's best clothes
-
to put fancy dress, disguise, etc, on (oneself or another), as in children's games
let's dress up as ghosts!
-
(tr) to improve the appearance or impression of
it's no good trying to dress up the facts
dress up
Idioms
-
Wear formal or elaborate clothes, as in I love to dress up for a party . [Late 1600s] For the antonym, see dress down , def. 2.
-
Put on a costume of some kind, as in The children love dressing up as witches and goblins . [Late 1800s]
-
Adorn or disguise something in order to make it more interesting or appealing. For example, She has a way of dressing up her account with fanciful details . [Late 1600s]
Etymology
Origin of dress-up
First recorded in 1665–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase dress up
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:
A venue in Rotterdam turned itself over to fantasy dress-up and gamer fanaticism on the weekend, with thousands attending TwitchCon Europe.
From Barron's ● May 30, 2026
I imagine the A.I. bot like a child playing dress-up, donning an oversized blazer and glasses for a game of “businessman.”
From Slate ● Mar. 20, 2026
Indeed, Y2K dress-up days are popping up in workplaces and on college campuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Schools are allowed to celebrate Halloween or "school dress-up or activity days" that feature costumes — but only if "there are not more than five such days in a school year."
From Salon ● May 12, 2025
They went for it, taking turns playing dress-up.
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
Typically people dress up as characters -- human or otherwise -- from movies, series, comics, pop culture, fantasy, roleplay or computer games.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
"The way the Brazilians dress up, they take it to a whole new level. There will still be a terrific atmosphere when we are together."
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
Funders, by contrast, dress up their investments as prepaid forwards and claim capital gains treatment, lowering their top federal tax rate to 23.8% while exempting foreign funders from U.S. taxes entirely.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 5, 2026
In reality, it’s a cover story people use to dress up views — like advocating teen pregnancy — they can’t argue for directly in public.
From Salon ● Apr. 20, 2026
Of course, Adam would choose to dress up for the symphony and a 1960s sharkskin suit could’ve just been his cool take on formal, but I knew there was more to it than that.
From "If I Stay" by Gayle Forman
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.
