What does "dress" mean?
An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist.
Dress
/dɹes/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Top 500 ·Elementary level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist.
- Grammar: dress is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: attire, garb, abaya, academic garb.
- Useful contrasts: pantsier, unclad, baring.
- Usage evidence: Your dress is unsuitable for the occasion.
How to use "dress"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "dress" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "dress" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "dress" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "dress" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
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- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
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Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "dress" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
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3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
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Final meaning check
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When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 An item of clothing (usually worn by a woman or young girl) which both covers the upper part of the body and includes a skirt below the waist. countable, uncountable
"Amy and Mary looked very pretty in their dresses."
- 2 acronym of drug reaction with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms or drug rash with eosinophilia and systemic symptoms. abbreviation, acronym, alt-of, uncountable
- 3 clothing in general wordnet
- 4 An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is generally decorative and appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc. countable, uncountable
"I have been thinking, George, of changing our travelling dreſſes in the morning. I am grown confoundedly aſhamed of mine."
- 5 clothing of a distinctive style or for a particular occasion wordnet
Show 10 more definitions
- 6 An item of outer clothing or set of such clothes (worn by people of all sexes) which is generally decorative and appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc.; Any item of clothing, or an outfit. India, broadly, countable, uncountable
"He wore a bright orange dress to the office yesterday."
- 7 a one-piece garment for a woman; has skirt and bodice wordnet
- 8 Ellipsis of dress rehearsal. abbreviation, alt-of, countable, ellipsis, uncountable
- 9 Apparel or clothing, especially when appropriate for a particular occasion, profession, etc. countable, uncountable
"military dress"
- 10 The act of putting on clothes, especially fashionable ones, or for a particular (especially formal) occasion. archaic, countable, uncountable
- 11 The external covering of an animal (for example, the feathers of a bird) or an object. broadly, countable, uncountable
"When the adults [i.e., birds] of both sexes have a distinct winter and summer plumage, whether or not the male differs from the female, the young resemble the adults of both sexes in their winter dress or much more rarely in their summer dress, or they resemble the females alone; or the young may have an intermediate character; or again they may differ greatly from the adults in both their seasonal plumages."
- 12 The appearance of an object after it has undergone some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use; finish. broadly, countable, uncountable
- 13 The external appearance of something, especially if intended to give a positive impression; garb, guise. broadly, countable, figuratively, uncountable
"Sir, although / VVe may be ſaid to vvant the guilt, and trappings, / The dreſſe of Honor; yet vve ſtriue to keepe, / The ſeedes, and the Materialls."
- 14 The system of furrows on the face of a millstone. archaic, broadly, countable, historical, uncountable
- 15 The act of applying a dressing to or otherwise treating a wound; also, the dressing so applied. countable, obsolete, uncountable
Verb
- 1 To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe. also, figuratively, reflexive, transitive
"He was dressed in the latest fashions."
- 2 arrange attractively wordnet
- 3 To put clothes (or, formerly, armour) on (oneself or someone, a doll, a mannequin, etc.); to clothe.; To attire (oneself or someone) for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner. also, figuratively, reflexive, specifically, transitive
"[A]ll the men there shoulde dresse themselves like the poorest sorte of the people in Arcadia, having no banners, but bloudie shirtes hanged upon long staves, […]"
- 4 dress or groom with elaborate care wordnet
- 5 To design, make, provide, or select clothes (for someone). transitive
"The fashion designer was proud to have dressed the queen for the charity event."
Show 42 more definitions
- 6 dress in a certain manner wordnet
- 7 To arrange or style (someone's hair). transitive
"[Domitian] after his manner, with a cheerfull countenance and grieved heart, received the newes: being inwardly pricked, to think that his later counterfet triumph of Germany, wherin certain ſlaves bought for mony were attired and their haire dreſſed as captives of that country, was had in deriſion and iuſtly skorned abroad: […]"
- 8 give a neat appearance to wordnet
- 9 To adorn or ornament (something). also, figuratively, transitive
"It was time to dress the windows for Christmas again."
- 10 put on clothes wordnet
- 11 To adorn or ornament (something).; To arrange a display of goods in, or to decorate (a shop or shop window). also, figuratively, transitive
- 12 provide with clothes or put clothes on wordnet
- 13 To adorn or ornament (something).; To ornament (a ship) by hoisting the national colours at the peak and mastheads, and setting the jack forward; when "dressed full", the signal flags and pennants are added. also, figuratively, transitive
- 14 apply a bandage or medication to wordnet
- 15 To apply a dressing to or otherwise treat (a wound); (obsolete) to give (a wounded person) medical aid. transitive
"[T]he Mayd / His readie vvound with better ſalues new dreſt, / Daily ſhe dreſſed him, and did the beſt / His grieuous hurt to guariſh, that ſhe might, […]"
- 16 convert into leather wordnet
- 17 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready. transitive
"Now when the towne his ſommonds did diſdain, / To conquer it perforce he plyde his pain: / And their, th’Inginers haue the Trepan dreſt, / And reared vp the Ramme for batterie beſt: […]"
- 18 kill and prepare for market or consumption wordnet
- 19 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.; To prepare, treat, or curry (animal hide or leather). transitive
"The ſkinnes of Dogges are dreſſed for gloues, and cloſe Bootes, the vvhich are vſed by ſuch as haue vicerous and ſvvelling Legges or Limbes, for by them the aflicted place receiueth a double reliefe; firſt, it reſiſteth the influent humors, and ſecondly, it is not exaſperated with VVoollen."
- 20 cut down rough-hewn (lumber) to standard thickness and width wordnet
- 21 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.; To prepare by any of many types of physical processing (e.g., breaking, crushing, sorting, sieving, controlled burning or heating). especially, transitive
"in mining and metallurgy, to dress ores by sorting and separating them"
- 22 put a finish on wordnet
- 23 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.; To prepare the surface of (a material, such as lumber or stone; a grindstone or grinding wheel). transitive
- 24 cultivate, tend, and cut back the growth of wordnet
- 25 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.; To remove chaff or impurities from (flour, grain, etc.) by bolting or sifting, winnowing, and other methods. England, historical, regional, transitive
- 26 put a dressing on wordnet
- 27 To fit or prepare (something) for use; to render (something) suitable for an intended purpose; to get ready.; To prepare (an artificial fly) to be attached to a fish hook. transitive
- 28 provide with decoration wordnet
- 29 To cultivate or tend to (a garden, land, plants, etc.); especially, to add fertilizer or manure to (soil); to fertilize, to manure. transitive
"Gard[ener]. Oh what pitie is it that he had not ſo trimde, / And dreſt his land as vve this garden at time of yeare / Do vvound the barke, the skinne of our fruit trees, […] Queene. Oh I am preſt to death through vvant of ſpeaking / Thou old Adams likeneſſe ſet to dreſſe this garden, / How dares thy harſh rude tong ſound this vnpleaſing nevvs?"
- 30 decorate (food), as with parsley or other ornamental foods wordnet
- 31 To cut up (an animal or its flesh) for food. transitive
"But as he dressed the carcass—cutting it up to bring home—Borg’s gratitude gave way to revulsion. When he tried to extract the liver, which should have been firm and meaty, it deliquesced into a bloody sludge, sliding goopily through his fingers."
- 32 arrange in ranks wordnet
- 33 To prepare (food) for cooking or eating, especially by seasoning it; specifically, to add a dressing or sauce (to food, especially a salad). transitive
"Old vvom[an]: [O]nce vppon a time his daughter was ſtollen avvay, and hee ſent ſo long, that he ſent all his men out of his Land. / Frol[icke]: VVho dreſt his dinner then?"
- 34 To design, make, or prepare costumes (for a play or other performance); also, to present (a production) in a particular costume style. transitive
- 35 To prepare (a set) by installing the props, scenery, etc. transitive
"Mallory, all night long, single-handedly painted and dressed the set so that at eight o'clock Sunday morning when we arrived to make breakfast in the kitchen, there she was sound asleep on the davenport in the set, every prop in place."
- 36 To arrange (soldiers or troops) into proper formation; especially, to adjust (soldiers or troops) into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other; to align. transitive
"to dress the ranks"
- 37 To treat (someone) in a particular manner; specifically, in an appropriate or fitting manner; (by extension, ironic) to give (someone) a deserved beating; also, to give (someone) a good scolding; to dress down. Northern-England, archaic, transitive
"[...] I say, bid come before vs Angelo: What figure of vs thinke you, he will beare. For you must know, we haue with speciall soule Elected him our absence to supply; Lent him our terror, drest him with our loue, And giuen his Deputation all the Organs Of our owne powre: What thinke you of it?"
- 38 To break in and train (a horse or other animal) for use. obsolete, transitive
"Oh how it ernd my hart when I beheld, / In London ſtreetes, that Coronation day, / VVhen Bullingbroke rode on Roane Barbarie. / That horſe, that thou ſo often haſt beſtride. / That horſe, that I ſo carefully haue dreſt."
- 39 To prepare (oneself); to make ready. intransitive, obsolete, reflexive
"[S]yr Gawayns ſpere brak ⸝ but ſir marhaus ſpere helde ⸝ And therwith ſyre Gawayne and his hors ruſſhed doune to the erthe ⸝ And lyghtly ſyre Gawayne roſe on his feet ⸝ and pulled out his ſwerd ⸝ and dreſſyd hym toward syr Marhaus on foote ⸝ […]"
- 40 To put on clothes. intransitive
"I rose and dressed before daybreak. It’s very cold out. Dress warm."
- 41 To put on clothes.; To attire oneself for a particular (especially formal) occasion, or in a fashionable manner. intransitive, specifically
"They returned home early to dress for dinner."
- 42 Of a thing: to attain a certain condition after undergoing some process or treatment to fit or prepare it for use. intransitive
- 43 To allow one's penis to fall to one side or the other within one's trousers. euphemistic, intransitive
"While measuring him for his trousers, the tailor asked him if he dressed to the left or the right."
- 44 Ellipsis of cross-dress. abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis, intransitive, slang
- 45 Of an animal carcass: to have a certain quantity or weight after removal of the internal organs and skin; also, to have a certain appearance after being cut up and prepared for cooking. intransitive
- 46 Of soldiers or troops: to arrange into proper formation; especially, to form into straight lines and at a proper distance from each other. imperative, intransitive, sometimes
"Right, dress!"
- 47 Of a sportsperson: to put on the uniform and have the equipment needed to play a sport. intransitive
"Due to a left ankle sprain, the basketball player did not dress for the game against Indiana."
Adjective
- 1 (of an occasion) requiring formal clothes wordnet
- 2 suitable for formal occasions wordnet
Example
"Your dress is unsuitable for the occasion."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "dress"?
Common synonyms include: attire, garb, abaya, academic garb, accouter, accoutred.
How do you use "dress" in a sentence?
Your dress is unsuitable for the occasion.
How do you pronounce "dress"?
Pronounced /dɹes/.
Etymology
PIE word *dwís The verb is from Middle English dressen, dresse (“to arrange, put in order”), from Anglo-Norman, Old French dresser, drecier (modern French dresser), from Late Latin *dīrēctiāre (“to guide, direct”), from Classical Latin dīrēctus, whence English direct. The noun is derived from the verb.