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
But the display is tiny, the neural-band bracelet control is too fiddly and the glasses themselves make me look like a kid playing dress-up with her dad’s ’70s eyewear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 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
“Though be careful. Zu’s so starved for girl time that she might turn you into her own personal dress-up doll.”
From "The Darkest Minds" by Alexandra Bracken
American lifestyle guru Martha Stewart apologized late Sunday for an "insensitive and not funny" Halloween costume after she appeared to dress up as a homeless person.
From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026
Jama told Elle UK magazine she wanted to dress as the "bald headed icon" to honour the Olympian, adding that she has wanted to dress up as a man for years for Halloween.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
Spooky season culminates tomorrow, and my colleagues have put together a frightfully good list of what to brew, read, and dress up as to get your weekend off to the right start:
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
I am old enough to remember when people used to dress up on an airplane.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 21, 2026
After all, he is “company” in a way, and I thought I should dress up a bit.
From "Z for Zachariah" by Robert C. O’Brien
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
