dress up — wear smart or special clothes
phrasal verbB1IELTS 5+neutralcommon
To put on clothes that are more formal or nicer than usual, often for a special occasion.
Say it like a native
Textbook I intend to wear formal attire for the celebration.
Native I'm going to dress up for the party.
'Dress up' is what everyone says about putting on smart clothes; 'wear formal attire' is an invitation card.
Pattern: dress up (for something)
In use
- You don’t need to dress up for the barbecue; jeans are fine.daily life
- In my country, people usually dress up for weddings and other important celebrations.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ Do I need to dress up myself?
✓ Do I need to dress up?
'Dress up' is intransitive — no reflexive 'myself'.
Common collocations
dress up (for)— for the party, nicely, a bit, for dinner
Don't confuse it
'Dress up' is different from 'dress down', which means to wear more casual clothes.
Related
- dress up (make something look more attractive) — Another meaning of 'dress up' is 'make something look more attractive'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.