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Glite Dictionary
🧠 To invent 🔄 To compensate 🧩 To form a whole 💄 To apply cosmetics 🤝 To reconcile 🛏️ To arrange
to make up

to make up

79 2.6
Put makeup on your face to change how you look
  • phrasal verb
  • /meɪk ʌp/
translation icon : maquillarse
  • Before going to the party, she always takes time to make up her face with foundation and lipstick.

Examples

  • If you are a busy person, this brush could do your make up in about two seconds.

  • So let's just put make up on my face.

  • But yeah, I am going to go and put some make up on now.

  • Today we're gonna have a very special make up tutorial.

    #No_Filter (2022)

  • So I like to set make up with a puff and some powder.

  • Every morning, I make up my face using a variety of cosmetics to enhance my features.

  • The actress said that it takes her an hour to make up for her role in the new film.

Synonyms

to put on
vsto make up
679 1.0

To dress yourself in clothes or wear things like makeup

is specifically about applying cosmetics to the face
to do up
vsto make up
  • UK
7 3.9

Make yourself look attractive by dressing and doing your hair or makeup

focuses only on face cosmetics rather than broader grooming or dressing
to pretty up
vsto make up
  • Informal
6 4.3

Make people and places look nicer by dressing up, adding decorations, or using makeup

applies only to face cosmetics, not to improving objects or outfits
to doll up
vsto make up
  • Informal
1 7.2

To dress up and make yourself look attractive for a special event

focuses on face cosmetics rather than full careful dressing
to glam up
vsto make up
  • Informal
1 6.8

Make yourself or someone more stylish using clothes and makeup

is general enhancement, not specifically glamorous or fashionable
to fard
vsto make up
  • Archaic
9.9

To put makeup on the face to change how it looks

is the common everyday term for using cosmetics on the face

Antonyms

to take off
∞ 1.5

To remove clothes or something from your body

How Much Makeup

to cake
24 7.9
to make up
79 2.6
to freshen up
  • Informal
43 3.4

Surface Forms

make up infinitive
made up past
made up past participle
making up present participle
makes up third person singular

Morphology

make + up

The meaning 'to form or constitute; to combine together as parts to create a whole' is directly derivable from 'make' (to create or assemble) combined with the particle 'up', which commonly adds a sense of completion or togetherness. This verb+particle compositional pattern is regular in English and cross-linguistically accessible, so a B1 learner who knows the constituents would reasonably infer this sense.

Etymology

Make up comes from the idea of make the face up — to finish the face by adding colour or paint for a show or photo, so it means 'to put on cosmetics'.