dress up — make something look more attractive
phrasal verbB2IELTS 6+neutraloccasional
To make something look nicer or more interesting, often by adding decorations or extra details.
Say it like a native
Textbook You can enhance the appearance of a plain dish with some fresh herbs.
Native You can dress up a plain dish with some herbs.
'Dress up' is the natural verb for jazzing something up; 'enhance the appearance of' is a recipe-book voice.
Pattern: dress something up
In use
- She dressed up the salad with some fresh herbs and colorful vegetables.daily life
- Sometimes, people dress up their CVs to make their experience sound more impressive.IELTS speaking
Common mistake
✗ She dressed up the room with more nice.
✓ She dressed up the room with a few plants.
Add a concrete thing after 'with' — 'with more nice' isn't grammatical.
Common collocations
dress up + thing— a dish, the room, a presentation, an outfit
Don't confuse it
This sense is about improving appearance, not about clothing.
Related
- dress up (wear smart or special clothes) — Another meaning of 'dress up' is 'wear smart or special clothes'; compare the examples to keep the meanings separate.