Meaning & use
dressing down
Last updated
Meanings
nounsingularinformal
A harsh telling-off from someone in authority because of something you did wrong.
Grammar: Takes an or an: she got a dressing-down. Often hyphenated.
Patterns
- give someone a dressing-down
- get a dressing-down for something
The manager gave the whole team a dressing-down for missing the deadline.
He got a public dressing-down from his coach.
I was expecting a dressing-down when I got home late.
verbintransitive
Wearing simpler or more casual clothes than usual or than others expect for an occasion.
Grammar: No object; often with for or on: dressing down for Friday.
Patterns
- dressing down for something
- dressing down on Fridays
Many offices let people dress down on Fridays.
She was dressing down for the picnic in an old sweater.
He kept dressing down even at formal events, which surprised people.
Word forms
| base form | dress down |
|---|---|
| third person singular | dresses down |
| past tense | dressed down |
| past participle | dressed down |
Common combinations
- give someone a dressing-down
- The captain gave the players a dressing-down after the loss.
- get a dressing-down
- I got a dressing-down for forgetting the report.
- a public dressing-down
- The senator endured a public dressing-down.
- dressing down for work
- Dressing down for work is becoming common.
- dress down Friday
- Our office has dress down Friday every week.
Synonyms and how they differ
- scolding
- Scolding is a milder and more everyday word, often used for children, whereas dressing-down suggests a stern authority figure.
- reprimand
- Reprimand is formal and official, as in workplace discipline, while dressing-down is more colorful and informal.
- telling-off
- Telling-off is the British informal word, usually less severe than a dressing-down.
- rebuke
- Rebuke is formal and literary, and it often suggests disapproval in speech or writing.
Opposites
Word family
- dress verb
- to put on clothes
- dress down phrasal verb
- to wear casual clothes; to scold
- dressed adjective
- wearing clothes
- dressing noun
- a sauce or a bandage; the act of putting on clothes
Commonly confused: dressing down or dressing up?
dressing down vs dressing up
Dressing up is the opposite of dressing down in the clothes sense: wearing smarter or fancier clothes than usual.
Practice
The principal gave the students a stern ___ after the prank.
Choose one answer.
'Dressing-down' is a harsh scolding. The other options are all real compound words about clothing or performance but none means a telling-off.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “dressing down”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.