Meaning & use
dressed to the nines
Last updated
Meaning
phrasefixed phraseinformal
Wearing very smart or elegant clothes, especially for a special occasion.
Grammar: Used after be or get: She was dressed to the nines. It describes a person, not an event.
Patterns
- be dressed to the nines
- get dressed to the nines
- dressed up to the nines
Everyone was dressed to the nines for the wedding, with long dresses and shiny shoes.
He got dressed to the nines for the awards ceremony and even wore a bow tie.
You don't need to be dressed to the nines; a clean shirt is fine.
Common combinations
- dressed to the nines for an occasion
- They were dressed to the nines for the anniversary dinner.
- get dressed to the nines
- She got dressed to the nines before the cameras arrived.
- dressed up to the nines
- The whole family was dressed up to the nines in the photo.
Synonyms and how they differ
- dressed up
- More general and less strong; it can mean smart or just wearing a costume.
- smartly dressed
- Neutral and slightly formal, describing neat, respectable clothes rather than glamour.
- glammed up
- Informal and focuses on makeup and style as much as the clothes.
Opposites
Word family
- dress up phrasal verb
- To put on smarter or special clothes than usual.
Commonly confused: dressed to the nines or dressed up?
dressed to the nines vs dressed up
Dressed up simply means wearing nicer clothes than usual, while dressed to the nines suggests full elegance.
Practice
For her sister's wedding she was dressed ___ the nines.
Choose one answer.
The fixed idiom is dressed to the nines. In, on, and at do not form this expression.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dressed to the nines”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.