# dress up

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/dress-up
Updated: 2026-08-08

## Senses

### 1. to wear formal clothes

phrasal verb · CEFR A2

to put on your best or most formal clothes for a special occasion.

For teachers: to wear formal or elegant attire, typically for a social event or professional occasion. The verb is intransitive in this sense.

- You don't need to dress up for the party; jeans and a t-shirt are fine.
- The invitation specified a black-tie dress code, so all the guests were expected to dress up in their finest evening wear.

Usage: Intransitive; does not take a direct object.

### 2. to wear a costume

phrasal verb · CEFR B1

to wear a costume to look like a famous person, a character, or an animal.

For teachers: to wear a costume for the purpose of roleplay, entertainment, or disguise. Often used with the preposition 'as'.

- The children love to dress up as superheroes and play in the garden.
- For the historical reenactment, the volunteers had to dress up in authentic Victorian garments to maintain the atmosphere of the museum.

Usage: Often followed by 'as' + noun.

### 3. to make something look better

phrasal verb · CEFR B2

to make something look more attractive or impressive than it really is.

For teachers: to present something in a more favourable or decorative light, often to disguise its true nature or simplicity.

- She tried to dress up the simple salad with some colorful flowers.
- The marketing team attempted to dress up the disappointing quarterly results with optimistic projections for the following year.

Usage: Transitive; the object can sit between 'dress' and 'up'.

## Examples

- I love to dress up for a fancy dinner.
- The children decided to dress up as pirates for the birthday party.
- While the gala requires guests to dress up in black-tie attire, the after-party allows for a more relaxed dress code.

## Usage notes

- Teaching tip: distinguish between the 'formal' sense (wearing a suit) and the 'costume' sense (wearing a mask); in British English, 'fancy dress' specifically refers to the costume sense.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.