dress-up
adjective
being an occasion, situation, etc., for which one must be somewhat formally well-dressed.
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dressup.
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
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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.
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Put on a costume of some kind, as in The children love dressing up as witches and goblins . [Late 1800s]
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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 Bi is after more than elaborate dress-up, conceiving each episode as an exploration of how movies amplify and comment on life’s cavalcade of emotions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 12, 2025
Indeed, Y2K dress-up days are popping up in workplaces and on college campuses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
Lydia was in her element, seldom happier than when playing dress-up with Dill, her own little fashion charity project.
From "The Serpent King" by Jeff Zentner
When Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy ludicrously urged Americans to dress up for travel, he was referencing this imaginary age of girdles and silk-stockinged women dolled up like Veronica Lake.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026
People may put on a front, dress up, tell lies.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026
Visitors, many of whom dress up as their favourite characters, will be able to play new releases at hundreds of stations starting Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Aug. 25, 2026
This was the game that we got tickets for, so we decided to dress up a little bit and have some fun.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026
I jumped up and pulled the neckline of the dress up until my fists were against my chin.
From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago
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.
