to dress down
1
3.8
- phrasal verb
- /drɛs daʊn/
- Informal
:
vestir informal
- When going to the beach, it's best to dress down so you can relax in casual wear.
- dressed down for work
You know, it's fine that you've been kind of dressing down for the last couple years, but now you need to to, you know, get your act in gear.
- You know, it's fine that you've been kind of dressing down for the last couple years, but now you need to to, you know, get your act in gear.
Examples
-
It can dress down fancy items and works great with casual items.
Blog text (4) -
My father was "dressed down" in a stiff golf shirt, golf trousers, and a beret over his crew cut.
Fiction book (1999) -
Eakins made all his successful subjects dress down for their sittings.
Fiction book (1998) -
I have the outfits lined up how I want everybody to dress down to the flavor, the cups, everything, the decor.
-
You know, it's fine that you've been kind of dressing down for the last couple years, but now you need to to, you know, get your act in gear.
-
Sólstafir at KEX was another, even though it was short and lacked the smoke and lights from the night before, and the band was dressed down, and Addi was much more low-key in his presentation.
Blog text (4) -
Victoria Beckham for sure because she just is and naturally fashionable even when she dresses down—remember those tracksuits and the green trainers she wore last week?
Blog text (4) -
On casual Fridays, many employees like to dress down in comfortable clothes instead of formal attire.
-
She decided to dress down for the picnic, opting for jeans and a t-shirt.
Synonyms
4
6.0
To wear clothes that are less formal than other people at an event
Antonyms
How Casual
- Informal
1
3.8
178
2.7
Surface Forms
Morphology
dress + down
The meaning 'to wear informal or casual clothes' is related to the verb 'dress' (to put on clothes) combined with 'down' suggesting a lowering of formality; the sense can be partly inferred from the constituents and the contrast with 'dress up'. However, the use of 'down' to mean ‘less formal’ is metaphorical and relies on collocational knowledge, so a B1 learner who simply knows the literal meanings may not reliably predict the exact sense without prior exposure.
Etymology
Dress down comes from the simple image of making your clothes less formal: to dress yourself down by taking off a jacket or tie and wearing plain clothes. So dress down means 'to wear informal or casual clothes'.