dress down

dress down
phrasal verb with dress verb
uk  /dres/ us  /dres/
Add to word list
to wear informal clothes in a situation where people often wear more formal clothes:
She always tried to dress down on her first date with a man.
On casual Friday, office workers were allowed to dress down at the end of the working week.
 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
Putting clothes on
arrayedbundlebundle (someone) up phrasal verbdolldoll yourself up phrasal verbdolled upflingget up phrasal verbglamglam up phrasal verblayeringmake yourself respectable idiommuffleput something on phrasal verbredonrespectablerigrig someone out phrasal verbslipthrow
See more results »
 
dress someone down
phrasal verb with dress verb
uk  /dres/ us  /dres/
old-fashioned
 
to speak angrily to someone because they have done something wrong:
His boss dressed him down for showing up late.
She dresses down anyone who won't join in.
Related word
dressing-down
 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
 
dress something down
phrasal verb with dress verb
uk  /dres/ us  /dres/
 
to make an item of clothing less formal, or to wear an item of clothing in a way that makes it less formal:
An open-neck shirt can dress down a suit.
This dress is easy to wear and very feminine. You can dress it down with a cardigan for the day and dress it up with jewellery for the evening.
 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases
 
dress-down
adjective (also dressdown, dress down)
uk  /;dres;da;n/ us  /;dres;da;n/
 
A dress-down policy or day is one in which employees are allowed to wear informal clothes at work:
dress-down day Because of the heat we've declared a dress-down day.
dress-down Friday On a recent dress-down Friday at his office, he decided to wear his new trainers.
dress-down policy The new headquarters has a permanent dress-down policy.
We're not exactly dress-down, but we are more relaxed than many financial institutions.
Related word
dress down
 More examples
 
dress-down
noun [ U ] (also dressdown, dress down)
uk  /;dres;da;n/ us  /;dres;da;n/
 
a policy of allowing employees to wear informal clothes at work:
People feel more comfortable with dress-down, but we still wear suits for meetings with clients.
The bank declared an end to "dressdown" and instructed traders to smarten up.
 More examples
(Definition of dress down from the Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary & Thesaurus © Cambridge University Press)
dress down | Business English
dress down
phrasal verb with dress verb
uk  /dres/ us
Add to word list
WORKPLACE
to wear more informal clothes to work than you usually do:
Staff have been told that they can dress down on Fridays.