freshen up

verb

To wash or groom oneself in order to be more attractive.

“Women spend longer than men at freshening up before going out.”

Similar
refurbishrenovatefreshenrefreshrefreshen
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Meanings

verbfreshen up (third-person singular simple present freshens up, present participle freshening up, simple past and past participle freshened up)

present singular third person freshens up · participle present freshening up · participle past freshened up · past freshened up

  1. intransitivereflexiveTo wash or groom oneself in order to be more attractive.

    Women spend longer than men at freshening up before going out.

  2. transitiveTo freshen, make fresh, revivify, make new.

    After beating champions Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting XI in an effort to freshen things up, with games against Birmingham and Manchester City to come in the next seven days.

    2010 December 29, Mark Vesty, “Wigan 2 - 2 Arsenal”, in BBC

Synonyms & antonyms

verbmake brighter and prettier

Similar
refurbishrenovate
Broader
regeneraterenew

verbbecome or make oneself fresh again

Similar
freshenrefreshrefreshen
Broader
change
Also see
freshenfresh uprefreshrefreshenrefurbishrenovate

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

From freshen + up. Compare Saterland Frisian apfriskje (“to refresh, freshen up”), West Frisian opfrisje (“to refresh, freshen up”), Dutch opfrissen (“to refresh, freshen up”), German auffrischen (“to refresh, freshen up”).

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Polish odświeżać się, odświeżyć się
  • odświeżać sięto wash or groom oneself
  • odświeżyć sięto wash or groom oneself
  • odświeżaćto revivify
  • odświeżyćto revivify
Cite this entry
APA

freshen up. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshen%20up

MLA

“freshen up.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshen%20up. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “freshen up,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/freshen%20up.

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