dress up

See also: dress-up

English

Verb

dress up (third-person singular simple present dresses up, present participle dressing up, simple past and past participle dressed up)

1. (intransitive) To put on special or fancy clothes.

   Synonym: (US) gussy up

   Antonym: dress down

   Everyone dressed up for the graduation ball.

   I want a job where I don't have to dress up.

   • 2014 December 26, Richard Castka, “Runners brave chilly weather in Boxing Day Run”, in South China Morning Post‎^[1], →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 2021-07-25, Sport‎^[2]:

     Runners had a fun day out in Friday's HKLRRC Boxing Day Race at Wan Chai Gap with most of the participants dressed up in costumes and braving the chilly weather.

2. (intransitive, often with 'as') To put on a costume portraying oneself as a particular type of character or well-known person.

   We're having a party on Saturday, but you must dress up as a famous historical figure.

3. (transitive, often with 'as') To put a costume on (someone) portraying them as a particular type of character or well-known person.

   The cat hated when they dressed him up for Halloween.

4. (transitive) To decorate; to prettify.
   • c. 1590–1592 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Taming of the Shrew”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene i]:

     Mistress, your father prays you leave your books,
     And help to dress your sister’s chamber up:
     You know to-morrow is the wedding-day.

5. (transitive) To present in a favorable light.

   Synonym: spin

   You can dress up that proposal however you want; it's still going to go over like a lead balloon.

Coordinate terms

• cosplay

Derived terms

• dressed up
• dress-up (noun)

Translations

to put on special or fancy clothes

• Azerbaijani: bəzəmək (az)
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi), pukeutua (siististi, hienosti, tyylikkäästi), laittautua (fi)
• German: sich herausputzen, sich aufbrezeln (de), sich schick anziehen
• Polish: stroić się (pl) impf, wystroić się (pl) pf, wystrajać się impf
• Russian: наряжаться (ru) (narjažatʹsja)
• Spanish: vestirse de gala, ponerse elegante, engalanarse (es), emperifollarse (es)
• Swedish: klä upp sig
• Yiddish: זיך אויספּוצן (zikh oysputsn)

to put on a costume portraying oneself as a particular character or figure

• Dutch: verkleden (nl)
• Finnish: pukeutua (fi)
• German: sich verkleiden (de)
• Japanese: please add this translation if you can
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: kle seg ut

• Polish: przebierać się, przebrać się
• Russian: наряжаться (ru) (narjažatʹsja)
• Swedish: klä ut sig (sv)

to present in a better light

• German: aufputzen
• Polish: ubierać (pl) impf, ubrać (pl) pf
• Swedish: skönmåla (sv)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Armenian: զուգվել (hy) (zugvel)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 打扮 (zh) (dǎbàn)

• Esperanto: alivestiĝi
• French: se costumer (fr)
• Hungarian: kiöltözik (hu)
• Italian: agghindarsi (it), vestirsi a festa, mettersi in ghingheri
• Japanese: 着飾る (ja) (きかざる, kikazaru)
• Russian: наряди́ться (ru) (narjadítʹsja), приоде́ться (ru) (priodétʹsja)
• Spanish: ponerse bonito, embellecer (es)
• Vietnamese: ^{(please verify)} ăn mặc đàng hoàng , ^{(please verify)} ăn mặc sang trọng (vi)