What is "dress up"

vb. 1 (context intransitive English) To wear fancy dress. 2 (context intransitive English) To wear a costume. 3 (context transitive English) To decorate; to prettify. 4 (context transitive English) To present in a favorable light.

1. v. put on special clothes to appear particularly appealing and attractive; "She never dresses up, even when she goes to the opera"; "The young girls were all fancied up for the party" [syn: fig out, fig up, deck up, gussy up, fancy up, trick up, deck out, trick out, prink, attire, get up, rig out, tog up, tog out, overdress] [ant: dress down]

2. make something appear superficially attractive; "The researcher tried to dress up the uninteresting data"; "Don't try to dress up the unpleasant truth" [syn: window-dress]

3. put a caparison on; "caparison the horses for the festive occasion" [syn: caparison, bard]

4. dress in a costume; "We dressed up for Halloween as pumpkins" [syn: costume]

5. dress in a certain manner; "She dresses in the latest Paris fashion"; "he dressed up in a suit and tie" [syn: dress]