to dress up
—| B2-C1 (intermediate to advanced) |—
In North American English, this word typically means:
PHRASAL VERB: to wear clothing that is more sophisticated than what a person normally wears (see examples 1 and 2)
PHRASAL VERB: to wear a costume (see example 3)
EXAMPLES:
“Wow! Look at you all dressed up! Where are you going?”
“Dressed up? What do you mean? I’m just wearing jeans. I’m going grocery shopping.”
“Yeah, but you never wear jeans! You always wear sweatpants.”
“Oh, well, all my sweatpants are dirty, so jeans were my only option…”
“And here I thought that you were dressing up to see me.”
“You can’t go to their wedding wearing just jeans and a t-shirt with sandals! You gotta dress up! Put on a suit and tie, a dress shirt, some dress pants, and some nice new shoes... You don’t wanna look like a schlub!”
“Our family is hosting a movie-themed costume party for New Year’s this year. So, make sure you come dressed up as your favourite character from your favourite movie. No costume, no entry. No exceptions!”
What do you like to wear to dress up? Have you ever gone somewhere that required you to dress up? Tell me about it in the comments below.
ASSOCIATED WORDS:
Some words related to “to dress up” include:
dressed-up (adjective; before a noun)
dressy (adjective; refers to definition 1)
dress-up (noun; refers to definition 2)
Some synonyms of “to dress up” include:
to wear nice clothes (collocation; informal)
to put on nice clothes (collocation; informal)
to look presentable (collocation; formal)
Some opposites of “to dress up” include:
to dress down (phrasal verb)
to wear casual clothes (collocation; informal)
to wear street clothes (collocation; informal)
