Meanings
- uncountableThe act or practice of putting on fancy clothes or a costume.
It is a very good idea to have a large box of discarded clothes and brightly coloured pieces of material handy during Christmas for the youngsters to use for "dressing-up."
1927 December 22, The Brisbane Courier, page 17, column 42 more examples
“But since then I’ve remembered what the young gentlemen”—John and Lawrence were still the “young gentlemen” to Dorcas—“call the ‘dressing-up box.’ It’s up in the front attic, sir. A great chest, full of old clothes and fancy dresses, and what not.”
1920, Agatha Christie, The Mysterious Affair at Styles, London: Pan Books, published 1954, page 113The dressing-up in corsets, mesh-stockings and frilly aprons which has become a hallmark of Rocky Horror productions quite transformed the tasteful grey atmosphere of the Canberra Theatre[.]
1988 August 3, The Canberra Times, page 22, column 6
Cite this entry
dressing-up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dressing-up
“dressing-up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dressing-up. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “dressing-up,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/dressing-up.
Source: dressing-up on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.