dress-up

noun

A child's game of putting on different clothes and pretending to be different people.

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Meanings

noundress-up (uncountable)
  1. informaluncountableA child's game of putting on different clothes and pretending to be different people.

    One day, I happened to catch a glimpse of my daughter Annie, age three, playing dress-up with her pals at the family day care program she attends twice a week. Each child had a hat on his or her head and was pretending to be a circus clown.

    1995, Working Mother: The Power of Dress-up, volume 18, number 2, page 48

Origin

Deverbal from dress up.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Norwegian Bokmål utkledning
  • utkledningTranslations
Polish przebieranka
  • przebierankaTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

dress-up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dress-up

MLA

“dress-up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dress-up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dress-up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dress-up.

Source: dress-up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.