gussy

[ guhs-ee ]

verb (used with object),gus·sied, gus·sy·ing.

to enhance the attractiveness of in a gimmicky, showy manner (usually followed by up): a room gussied up with mirrors and lights.

verb (used without object),gus·sied, gus·sy·ing.

to dress in one's best clothes (usually followed by up): to gussy up for the ball.

Origin of gussy

First recorded in 1935–40; of obscure origin

Use old clothes to gussy Frosty’s appearance, and then raid the fridge to do a little decorating.
Ski the Suburbs: Bring the Slopes to your Backyard | cobrien | January 10, 2022 | Outside Online
With no advertising, no podcast network, and no production studio — not even a theme song — to gussy up its narration, Knifepoint is about as grassroots as podcasting gets.
One Good Thing: Knifepoint Horror, a collection of campfire ghost stories in podcast form | Aja Romano | October 29, 2021 | Vox
But Spode is a character from pure planet Wodehouse—just as much as Aunt Agatha or gussy Fink-Nottle.
Can Fascism be Funny? | Douglas Murray | September 28, 2010 | THE DAILY BEAST
Then sixty-four legs trotted off, and only old gussy went into the house; while the others went to the barn.
The Nursery, August 1881, Vol. XXX | Various
“Certainly I will, gussy,” Fay continued in the same ebullient tones.
The Creature from Cleveland Depths | Fritz Reuter Leiber

gussy, it achieves the same effect without using any dope at all.
The Creature from Cleveland Depths | Fritz Reuter Leiber
The gals then go thru a lot of moshuns, dansin the racket, and gussy sets 'em up.
The Bad Boy At Home | Walter T. Gray
If we are to judge folk by their wames, gussy pig gruntin' in the trough wad be king o' men.
Cleg Kelly, Arab of the City | S. R. (Samuel Rutherford) Crockett

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