to put on frills
- phrasal verb
- There's no need to put on frills with your presentation; just stick to the main points.
Examples
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When it comes to business reports, he prefers not to put on frills and keeps things straightforward.
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We decided to put on frills for the wedding and hired a fancy caterer.
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Don't put on frills for the presentation.
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She always puts on frills when decorating for parties.
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There's no need to put on frills; just give us the facts.
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For the anniversary celebration, they decided to put on frills with extravagant decorations.
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When writing a report, it's better to avoid putting on frills and just focus on the data.
Synonyms
To make something look nicer by adding paint, ornaments, or other items
Make something look nicer or more attractive for a special event
To put decorations on something to make it look more beautiful
To add decorations to something to make it look special
To add extra, unnecessary details to make something seem bigger or better
Make something look better than it really is
To make something more beautiful by adding decorative details
Make something or someone look fancier by adding decorations
To dress or decorate in a fancy way to look nicer
To make something look showy to attract attention
To put fancy decorations like flowers or lights on something to make it look special
To add decorations to something to make it look nicer
To make unneeded changes to something already beautiful
To make something like a car or outfit look very fancy by adding bright decorations
To dress something in showy clothes or decorations
To add decoration that is not needed to something already beautiful
To add too many details and ruin something
Adding an extra thing to something that is already enough
Make something look more attractive by adding decorations
Make something look more stylish and attractive
To make someone or something look fancier to impress people
Making a car or other object look bright and showy with extra parts
To put on special clothes to look nice for an event
To dress in special clothes to look attractive
To put on fancy clothes to look good
Make something look more expensive by adding nicer things
Antonyms
How Decorative
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: 'put on' denotes adding or applying and 'frills' are decorative ornaments, so together they mean 'add decorative embellishments'. This follows a common verb+particle + noun pattern found across languages and would be accessible to a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
Put on frills comes from clothes: to put on extra small ribbons and ruffles called frills to make a dress or hat look fancier. That's why today it means 'to add unnecessary decorations'.