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Synonyms

gussied up

Idioms  

  1. Also, all gussied up. Dressed up, as in Dana loves to get all gussied up and go to a fine restaurant. The origin of this expression is not clear, though possibly it relates to the earlier use of the noun gussie (derived from a proper name) for an effeminate man. [Slang; mid-1900s]

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.

The film itself is a fairly slight story, gussied up in period costuming and hair.

From Los Angeles Times • Nov. 8, 2024

The performance space is a rehearsal studio that hasn’t been gussied up much, and the performers make full use of it.

From New York Times • Jan. 14, 2024

From tailgating to hosting a gussied up to-do, jambalaya will have everyone circling back for more.

From Salon • Jan. 11, 2024

The game doesn’t need to be gussied up and marketed to an audience defiant about its ambivalence.

From Washington Post • Mar. 31, 2023

I was already picturing Nan’s brace gussied up, though she wasn’t one for sequins—maybe silver studs.

From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry

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.