dressed to the nines
4
7.6
- idiom
- Informal
- Opening night, doctors, lawyers, businessmen and their wives, all dressed to the nines.
- looked dressed to the nines
- see you dressed to the nines
Examples
-
Look at all of you, you're all dressed to the nines.
-
Just then, Walter walks through the front door, dressed to the nines.
Fiction book (1995) -
Everyone was dressed to the nines.
Blog text (34) -
so we dressed to the nines, picked up our dates, and got ready for a night to remember.
-
And for good reason: memories are being made and kids are dressed to the nines.
Blog text (32) -
Guests dressed to the nines drink, mingle, and barely pay attention.
Fiction book (2000) -
A grand marshal is dressed to the nines, traditionally wearing a tuxedo and white gloves.
Academic text (2012) -
Dressed to the nines, Leopold leads a blindfolded Kate through the street.
Fiction book (2001) -
Jeff's assessment might strike us as valid when we first meet Lisa, who arrives dressed to the nines, with champagne, a catered dinner from a swanky Manhattan restaurant, and career plans for Jeff as a portrait and fashion photographer.
Academic text (1999) -
For the wedding, she was dressed to the nines in a stunning gown and elegant jewelry.
Synonyms
50
2.4
Wearing neat, clean clothes that look smart, like a suit or nice shirt
46
2.7
Wearing special formal clothes for a party or event
13
3.6
Suitable for formal events like a wedding or party
13
6.9
Dressed in fancy clothes and makeup for a special event
8
5.4
Wearing special or formal clothes
4
5.6
Wearing smart, attractive clothes so other people notice you
2
4.5
Wearing a long loose piece of clothing used in hospitals or formal events
1
4.6
Neat and attractive, often dressed or decorated for a special occasion
1
7.4
Dressed in nice clothes or made to look neat and attractive
1
6.3
Dressed in smart, formal clothes for a special event
1
8.2
To be dressed in fine or special clothes
1
6.8
Wearing very attractive, stylish clothes to get people's attention
1
8.2
To wear nice clothes for a special event
1
7.8
Wearing stylish, elegant clothes
1
9.1
Wearing smart clothes for a special event
1
9.0
Wearing fine clothes for a special event
A person who wears smart, fashionable clothes like a stylish city person
Antonyms
How Elegant
- Informal
4
7.6
- Informal
1
7.8
50
2.4
18
2.4
63
1.3
Surface Forms
Morphology
dressed + to + the + nines
The meaning 'wearing extremely elegant clothes' is not derivable from the literal constituents: 'nines' as used here is an idiomatic intensifier, so knowing 'dressed' and the number nine does not allow a learner to predict the overall sense. This is a historically opaque, language-specific idiom rather than a transparent compositional phrase.
Etymology
Dressed to the nines may come from an old saying where nines meant the highest quality. One popular story says tailors did extra work — like special stitches or nine buttons — to make a suit perfect, so being dressed to the nines means dressed 'perfectly' or very elegantly.