dressed to kill

Idioms  

1. Also, dressed to the nines. Elaborately attired, as in For the opening of the restaurant she was dressed to kill, or At the opera everyone was dressed to the nines. The first of these hyperbolic expressions dates from the early 1800s and uses kill in the sense of “to a great or impressive degree.” The phrase to the nines in the sense of “superlative” dates from the late 1700s and its original meaning has been lost, but the most likely theory is that it alludes to the fact that nine, the highest single-digit numeral, stands for “best.” Also see gussied up.

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Example Sentences

Even though Moira lost her fortune and lives in a roadside motel in a town called Schitt’s Creek, the former soap opera star is always dressed to kill, complete with a different wig every day.

From Washington Times • Apr. 6, 2020

It’s hard not to look with envy at the party photographs of this great Malian photographer, where the dancing goes on until dawn and everyone is dressed to kill.

From New York Times • Dec. 14, 2017

Languorously paced and literally dressed to kill, the movie is a corrosive attack on beauty — or at least our soulless, corporatized definition of the term — but it is also, above all else, a hypnotically beautiful object.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 23, 2016

I showed up, dressed to kill, and ready to wow the director and the camera crew.

From Forbes • May 28, 2015

“Won’t you be jest dressed to kill an’ cripple when you get that on!

From Judith of the Cumberlands by MacGowan, Alice

Related Words

• beautiful
• chic
• classy
• dapper
• dressy
• fashionable
• jazzy
• mod
• new
• nifty
• polished
• sleek
• slick
• smart
• snazzy
• trendy
• upscale