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
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]
First recorded in 1665–75; noun, adj. use of verb phrase dress up
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“You don’t need to be in a suite to feel like you can dress up for the matches, which I think is really cool.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 15, 2026
Trump loves to dress up in white tie and tails to hob-nob with the royals.
From Salon • May 3, 2026
One party source describes it as "tortoise and hare - maybe one day Ed will even dress up as a tortoise".
From BBC • May 2, 2026
Others said it’s not worth it to dress up, especially given the hassles now often associated with air travel.
From MarketWatch • Feb. 26, 2026
She plays dress up with a five-year-old girl next door, or agua de limon, where they lock hands and swing each other around in circles.
From "Enrique's Journey" by Sonia Nazario
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.
