get dressed up

Meaning

1. 1phraseintransitiveinformal

   to put on nice or special clothes, often for an occasion.

   Grammar: No object. Often followed by 'for' or 'to': get dressed up for a party.

   Patterns

   • get dressed up for something
   • get dressed up to do something
   • get all dressed up

   We got dressed up for the wedding and took lots of photos.

   She likes to get dressed up when she goes to the theater.

   They got all dressed up just to stay home and watch a movie.

Common combinations

get dressed up for a party

I need to get dressed up for the party tonight.

get dressed up to go out

They got dressed up to go out to dinner.

get all dressed up

She got all dressed up with nowhere to go.

get dressed up in something

He got dressed up in a suit and tie.

Synonyms and how they differ

dress up

This is the base form; 'get dressed up' often emphasizes the process or effort of putting on special clothes.

doll yourself up

This is more informal and often suggests putting extra effort into your appearance, sometimes with makeup.

Opposites

Word family

dressed adjective

Wearing clothes, often of a specified kind: well dressed, casually dressed.

dress-up adjective

Used before a noun to describe clothes for play or a special occasion: dress-up clothes.

Commonly confused: get dressed up or get dressed?

Practice

Make it your own

Write a sentence using “get dressed up”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.

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