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• dress-down
  dress-down

  adjective

  pertaining to or being a policy that allows employees to dress less formally than usual.
• dress down
  dress down

  verb

  (tr) to reprimand severely or scold (a person)

dress-down

American  

[dres-doun] / ˈdrɛsˌdaʊn /

adjective

1. pertaining to or being a policy that allows employees to dress less formally than usual.

   dress-down days during the summer.

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dress down British  

verb

1. informal (tr) to reprimand severely or scold (a person)

2. (intr) to dress in a casual or informal manner, esp at work

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dress down Idioms  

1. Scold, reprimand, as in The sergeant will dress down the entire unit . In the 15th century the verb dress alone was used in the sense of “punish,” down being added several centuries later. It also gave rise to the noun dressing down for punishment with blows or words. For example, The teacher gave the girls a severe dressing down .

2. Wear informal clothes, as in It's best to dress down for a party like a barbecue . [Mid-1900s] For the antonym, see dress up .

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Etymology

Origin of dress-down

First recorded in 1950–55

Example Sentences

He repeated the words “I’m comin'” at least a dozen times, and had players chant words such as “smart!” “tough!” and “disciplined!” after the dress-down.

From Seattle Times • Jan. 21, 2023

We have dress-down Fridays, which now becomes dress down every day of the week.

From Slate • Jan. 24, 2018

It’s nice on a windy day; it’s nice for a dress-up; it’s nice for a dress-down.

From New York Times • Sep. 15, 2017

Today, on a dress-down at work day, she's wearing leggings, flip-flops and a baggy top.

From BBC • Jun. 29, 2017

Instead, it was a full-on dress-down, with Stewart's anger at Cramer taking over parts of the interview.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 11, 2015