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Meaning & use

get dressed

phrase·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ɡet ˈdrest/
US/ɡet ˈdrest/

Meanings

  1. phrasephrasal verb

    To put on your clothes, usually after waking up or before going out.

    Grammar: No object follows; you get dressed yourself, and you can add for or in: get dressed for dinner.

    Patterns

    • get dressed for something
    • get dressed in something
    • get dressed up

    I get dressed after breakfast and then walk to work.

    The children were still getting dressed when the bus arrived.

    Please get dressed quickly; we leave in ten minutes.

  2. phrasephrasal verb

    To put on special or smart clothes for an occasion.

    Grammar: Often followed by up or for an event: get dressed up for the wedding.

    Patterns

    • get dressed up
    • get dressed for an occasion

    We got dressed up for the school dance.

    She got dressed in a long green gown for the awards night.

    Everyone gets dressed for dinner on the last night of the cruise.

Word forms

third person singulargets dressed
past tensegot dressed
past participlegot dressed (US: gotten dressed)
-ing formgetting dressed

Common combinations

get dressed quickly
He got dressed quickly and ran out the door.
get dressed for work
I get dressed for work at seven.
get dressed up
Let us get dressed up and go out tonight.
get dressed in the dark
She got dressed in the dark so she would not wake the baby.
help someone get dressed
The nurse helped the patient get dressed.

Synonyms and how they differ

dress
Dress is shorter and more formal, and often takes an object, as in dress the baby, while get dressed is the normal spoken form.
put your clothes on
Put your clothes on is plainer and focuses on the physical act, while get dressed covers the whole routine.
change
Change implies swapping clothes you already wear, whereas get dressed starts from being undressed.
dress up
Dress up means wearing smarter or fancier clothes than usual, which get dressed alone does not say.

Opposites

get undressedstrip off

Word family

dress verb
to put clothes on someone or yourself
dressed adjective
wearing clothes
undress verb
to take your clothes off
dressing noun
the act of putting clothes on

Commonly confused: get dressed or get dressed up?

get dressed vs get dressed up

Get dressed means to put on any clothes, while get dressed up means to wear smart or special ones.

Practice

What is the best way to complete this sentence: 'Hurry up, we need to leave. Have you ____ yet?'

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