DRESSING UP Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

dressing up

verb

present participle of dress up

as in dressing

to put on one's best or formal clothes we always like to dress up when going to parties

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in disguising

to change the dress or looks of so as to conceal true identity the war was a fiasco that the administration tried to dress up as a triumph

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in sprucing

to make more desirable dressed up the house with new windows and a paint job before putting it on the market

Synonyms & Similar Words

as in clothing

to outfit with clothes and especially fine or special clothes the girls were dressed up in skirts or dresses, but the boys were wearing jeans

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of dressing up Earlier this week, Kardashian started the trend by dressing up as her 13-year-old daughter, trading her typical skintight uniform for her teen’s more tomboyish emo aesthetic. — Isabella Albaig, Vulture, 23 Oct. 2026 Their theme is Tim Burton's The Corpse Bride, with the racers dressing up as the movie characters for race day. — Anna Ortiz, Chicago Tribune, 22 Oct. 2026 Plus, the medium wash with light fading is great for dressing up or dressing down. — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 20 Oct. 2026 Let Emma Bovary daydream about dressing up in a velvet dress and playing an Érard grand piano for a Parisian audience. — Yiyun Li, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2026 Read more below Best villain The best villain What is Halloween without someone dressing up as a villain? — Chris McMullen, Space.com, 9 Oct. 2026 The region’s poppies played a starring role in the new collection, dressing up Santoni’s relaxed Papavero suede loafer. — Katie Abel, Footwear News, 28 Sep. 2026 But dressing up your home for fall doesn’t require a designer budget, and Costco is one of the best places to prove it. — Danielle Bouchard, Martha Stewart, 27 Sep. 2026 Autumn is all about dressing up for transitional weather while keeping in mind seasonal hues, like burgundy, olive green, and camel. — Jasmine Gomez, Travel + Leisure, 18 Sep. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for dressing up

Verb

Johnny Was, reimagines everyday dressing through expressive prints, rich colors, and intricate detailing combining Natori’s heritage in luxury intimate apparel with Johnny Was’s relaxed, bohemian sensibility.

— Lisa Lockwood, Footwear News, 26 Oct. 2026
Again, these can be seamlessly slotted into consumers’ occasion dressing in a manner that typical costumes cannot.

— Joe Bobowicz, Vogue, 26 Oct. 2026

Definition of dressing

Verb

Seattle accomplishes this by masterfully disguising defensive assignments before the snap, which can force Mahomes to diagnose where to go with the football only after dropping back.

— Kansas City Star, Kansas City Star, 22 Oct. 2026
These scams convince people to execute malicious commands themselves, often by disguising the instructions as a software installation or troubleshooting step.

— Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 17 Oct. 2026

Definition of disguising

Verb

Ellison clinched the deal by sweetening the offer price and bringing his father, Larry Ellison, in to personally guarantee funding.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 7 Oct. 2026
Costner cited a scene in which Dunbar introduces the Lakota tribe to coffee and convinces them to partake by sweetening it heavily.

— Kelsey Legg, ABC News, 28 Sep. 2026

Definition of sweetening

Verb

His work finds a means of using technology, engineering, and performance to ask what a garment might be capable of beyond simply clothing the body.

— Anna Cafolla, Vogue, 26 Sep. 2026
Not feeding the hungry, not tending to the sick, not clothing the naked, not welcoming the refugee.

— Alexandra Petri, The Atlantic, 17 June 2026

Definition of clothing

Verb

The performance of hydrocarbons must be considered as part of a wider system that is simultaneously scaling clean electricity input and improving efficiency across the value chain.

— H.E. Dr Abdulla Saif Al Jarwan, Fortune, 21 Oct. 2026
Voters in DeKalb County will decide whether to renew a special one-cent sales tax that goes toward improving schools.

— Emily McLeod, CBS News, 21 Oct. 2026

Definition of improving

Verb

Many cope by masking or camouflaging — suppressing autistic traits in order to fit in.

— Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 26 Aug. 2026
Over decades, the tides shift surrounding sand while marine life, like algae, grows over the device, camouflaging it into the natural ocean environment.

— Mrigakshi Dixit, Interesting Engineering, 3 July 2026

Definition of camouflaging

Browse Nearby Words

dressings

dressing up

dress rehearsal

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Style

“Dressing up.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/dressing%20up. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of dressing up

verb

Example Sentences

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