spruce
1 Americannoun
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any evergreen, coniferous tree of the genus Picea, of the pine family, having short, angular, needle-shaped leaves attached singly around twigs and bearing hanging cones with persistent scales.
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any of various allied trees, as the Douglas fir and the hemlock spruce.
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the wood of any such tree.
adjective
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made from the wood of a spruce tree or trees.
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containing or abounding in spruce trees.
adjective
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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any coniferous tree of the N temperate genus Picea, cultivated for timber and for ornament: family Pinaceae. They grow in a pyramidal shape and have needle-like leaves and light-coloured wood See also Norway spruce blue spruce white spruce black spruce
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the wood of any of these trees
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Adjectives
Etymology
Origin of spruce1
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, special use of Spruce, Sprus(e), variant of Pruce, Prus(se), from Old French Prusse, Pruisse, from Medieval Latin Prussia Prussia, source of the timber
Origin of spruce2
First recorded in 1580–90; obsolete spruce jerkin originally, jerkin made of spruce leather, i.e., leather imported from Prussia ( see spruce 1), hence fine, smart, etc.
Explanation
Spruce is a verb that means you pay special attention to your personal appearance, especially your grooming and clothing. If you want to spruce up for a wedding, you'll need to rent a tuxedo and do something with your hair. Spruce can also mean that you're making something else look better. You might spruce up the living room before your girlfriend's visit by vacuuming, throwing away all the trash, and putting away the dishes you left sitting around. Spruce is typically used in combination with the word up: spruce up. Spruce's use as a verb possibly originated from "spruce leather," which was used to make a popular type of jacket back in the 1400s.
Vocabulary lists containing spruce
Front Desk
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Novel Study: The Outsiders, Chapters 6–12
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"The Minister's Black Veil," Vocabulary from the short story
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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:
Other houses were given a free lick of paint to spruce them up ahead of the arrival of the heads of state of 32 nations, including US President Donald Trump, the Sozcu newspaper reported.
From Barron's ● Jun. 25, 2026
The Cursor deal could spruce up xAI’s positioning in the market, allowing Musk to improve Grok with better coding capabilities and also convince enterprise companies to adopt its AI.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
One of the night’s standout dishes was the venison tartare, topped with poached egg yolk and spruce tips and served with rye crackers.
From Salon ● Jun. 11, 2026
They are from 7 to 8 feet long, made from carefully selected 50-to-60-year-old pine and spruce trees felled in early summer; tests of replica spears have suggested a range of about 38 yards.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 30, 2026
As Cole weakened, he stared up at the giant spruce tree towering above him.
From "Touching Spirit Bear" by Ben Mikaelsen
"Previously, it was spruces or cedars, but today, we find endemic species better adapted to the climate," Merdan Arazmedov, a member of Turkmenistan's Nature Protection Society, told AFP.
From Barron's ● Dec. 18, 2025
There’s no escaping the fact the simulated emergency care being given under shade of spruces could be carried out in grim reality in the coming weeks and months.
From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2024
At the head of it all, where the grass grows into a forest mixed with pines, spruces, and birch, is a small bar with a "Huuva Hideaway" sign hanging above.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 2022
I found that spruces and pines were the easiest to transplant and usually could make the transition from Christmas tree to landscape specimen with few problems.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 11, 2021
A hand swoops in to grab mine, pulling me toward one of the giant spruces, and we get under just as hail starts pelting down.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
Mr. Kabelac, who seemed the sprucer, less bashful of the two, spoke right up: "I'd be glad to marry her if Mrs. Stull says it's all right."
From Time Magazine Archive
There was dear old Ralph, looking quite ordinary and matter-of-fact, only rather sprucer than usual in his brand-new wedding garments.
From The Moon out of Reach by Pedler, Margaret
The storekeeper, much sprucer in dress than heretofore, smiled and nodded to her over the bridge of his violin.
From How Janice Day Won by Long, Helen Beecher
You look very much sprucer than you did the last time you were at Bourg.
From The Nabob by Blaydes, W.
Looks sprucer and snappier than I'd ever seen him before, too.
From Wilt Thou Torchy by Ford, Sewell
Thenceforth, while Britain's Glubb Pasha built the British-equipped Arab Legion into Islam's sprucest fighting force, Abdullah ruled the sandy wastes as a Bedouin black-tent state.
From Time Magazine Archive
Along thy sprucest bookshelves shine The works thou deemest most divine— The 'Art of Cookery,' and mine, My Murray.
From Life of Lord Byron, Vol. 4 With His Letters and Journals by Moore, Thomas
But Mr. Hugh Wenlock was on deck in the sprucest of his apparel, and was visibly anxious and fidgety, as befitted a man who shortly expected to enter into the bonds of matrimony.
From A Master of Fortune Being Further Adventures of Captain Kettle by Wood, Stanley L.
Would any one wish to see these remains tricked out in the sprucest, or even the richest, modern habiliments?
From The Book-Collector A General Survey of the Pursuit and of those who have engaged in it at Home and Abroad from the Earliest Period to the Present Time by Hazlitt, William Carew
Some buildings were spruced up as part of a tourism drive launched in the 1990s, which peaked in the years following the landmark 2016 visit by former US President Barack Obama.
From Barron's ● Jun. 17, 2026
She moved into his mother’s house and spruced it up with a new fence and fresh coat of paint, the relative said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 8, 2026
He’s pleased to see the estate being spruced up.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 2, 2025
One of the most crucial sequences involves the makeover that Glinda tries to give Elphaba as she sings “Popular” in their Shiz University dorm room, which she has spruced up with pink accouterments.
From New York Times ● Nov. 26, 2024
He grabbed Handsome’s present, which he also spruced up by tying a bright yellow ribbon around it, and left his cave.
From "The Very, Very Far North" by Dan Bar-el
I like sprucing up my ramen with fresh bok choy, baby corn, spinach and pickled red onions.
From Salon ● Jul. 19, 2026
Walmart is sprucing up its home goods to attract more high-income shoppers and better compete with the e-commerce titan.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
The firm also started sprucing up shops with inviting armchairs, new paint and ceramic mugs - all part of a $150,000-per-store "uplift" that is expected to take four years to complete.
From BBC ● Feb. 1, 2026
Minister Chung said North Koreans have been spotted "sprucing up" areas near the JSA for the first time this year -- cleaning, pulling weeds, tidying flower beds and taking photos.
From Barron's ● Oct. 25, 2025
“Is that bad? Maybe they’re downsizing. Or redecorating. My dad says knowing what to throw away is the single most important thing about sprucing up your home.”
From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead
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.
