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Meaning & use

freshen up

verb·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˌfreʃn ˈʌp/
US/ˌfreʃn ˈʌp/

Meanings

  1. verbintransitive

    To wash, change clothes or tidy yourself quickly so that you look and feel clean and refreshed.

    Grammar: No object needed: I will freshen up before dinner.

    Patterns

    • freshen up before something
    • freshen up after something

    I need to freshen up before the interview.

    After the flight, we freshened up at the hotel.

    She went to freshen up in the restroom before the party.

  2. verbtransitive

    To make something look newer or cleaner by making small improvements, cleaning or changing details.

    Grammar: Takes an object, which can come before or after up: freshen up the room, freshen it up.

    Patterns

    • freshen something up

    A coat of paint will freshen up the kitchen.

    We freshened the room up with new cushions.

    He added a few photos to freshen up the website.

  3. verbtransitiveinformal

    To give someone a refill of a drink, especially at the table or bar.

    Grammar: Informal; takes an object: freshen up your drink.

    Patterns

    • freshen up someone's drink

    Can I freshen up your coffee?

    The waiter came to freshen up our glasses.

    Let me freshen up your drink while you chat.

Word forms

third person singularfreshens up
past tensefreshened up
past participlefreshened up
-ing formfreshening up

Common combinations

freshen up before dinner
Guests can freshen up before dinner.
freshen up the room
Fresh flowers freshen up the room.
freshen up your look
A new haircut can freshen up your look.
quickly freshen up
I'll quickly freshen up and meet you downstairs.
freshen up the paintwork
We hired someone to freshen up the paintwork.

Synonyms and how they differ

spruce up
Spruce up usually means making a place or yourself look neat and smart, and sounds a bit more energetic.
tidy up
Tidy up focuses on putting things in order rather than feeling fresh.
wash up
Wash up in British English often means washing dishes, whereas freshen up is about yourself.
revive
Revive means bring back to life or energy and is stronger and more general.

Opposites

let go

Word family

fresh adjective
new, clean or recently made
freshen verb
to make fresh
freshener noun
a product that makes something smell fresh
freshness noun
the quality of being fresh

Commonly confused: freshen up or fresh up?

freshen up vs fresh up

Fresh up is not standard; the correct phrase is freshen up.

Practice

We arrived at the hotel early, so we went to our rooms to ___ before the wedding.

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