to furbish up
- phrasal verb
- Archaic
:
renovar
- He managed to furbish up the antique desk, making it look almost new again.
Examples
-
They decided to furbish up their old cottage before inviting guests to stay.
-
The company spent thousands to furbish up the conference room.
-
She decided to furbish up the old furniture.
-
Can you furbish up that antique clock?
-
He managed to furbish up the antique desk, making it look almost new again.
-
The company spent thousands to furbish up the conference room.
-
They decided to furbish up their old cottage before inviting guests to stay.
Synonyms
365
1.0
To fix something that is broken or not working
76
3.8
To repair and improve a building or room so it looks new again
41
3.2
To change the inside of a room by adding new paint, wallpaper, or furniture
41
4.9
To change something to make it look or work better
41
1.2
Fix something that is broken or torn
35
4.6
To check and fix or change something completely to make it work better
31
4.6
To make something clean and like new by fixing or decorating it
27
1.3
Paint something again to make it look new or different
26
4.1
To make a place or person look neat and smart
19
3.4
Change parts of a room or building to make it look new
13
3.8
To make yourself or a place look cleaner and nicer
9
6.1
Make furniture or floors look new by removing old paint and putting on new paint
9
3.2
To make a place or person more attractive by adding decorations like paint
8
3.8
Make small changes to something to improve how it looks
4
3.0
Make a room look cleaner and nicer with small changes
3
5.4
To fix something so it works well again
2
3.7
To fix a building or object so it is usable again
2
3.9
To change the style of something, for example hair or clothes
1
2.5
Put paint on something to make it look better
1
7.2
Make a person or place look neater and nicer by cleaning and adding small things
1
5.8
To make something better in how it works or how it looks
1
5.0
Make something look more attractive, often only on the surface
1
6.7
To put new material on the surface of something so it looks new
1
9.2
To make something shiny by rubbing
Make a room or building better by fixing and changing it
Make something like it was before or better
To make a house look new by painting, fixing and cleaning it
Make a surface shine again by rubbing it
To make something more attractive by adding new parts
Make something look more expensive by adding nicer things
Antonyms
How Restored
219
3.5
76
3.8
31
4.6
- Archaic
- Informal
13
3.8
8
3.8
Surface Forms
Morphology
The base verb 'furbish' means to polish or make shiny, and the particle 'up' adds a sense of improvement or completion; together they transparently yield the sense of restoring or renovating something to a better condition. This follows common English verb+up compositional patterns (e.g., 'spruce up', 'fix up') and would be clear to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The verb furbish up comes from the image of polishing and fixing an old chair or desk until it looks bright and new. Furbish means to clean or polish and up adds the idea of making something better, so it now means 'to restore or improve'.