Skip to main content
touch-up

touch-up

8 3.9
A small repair to make something look better
  • noun
  • /ˈtʌtʃˌʌp/
translation icon : retoque
  • Before the presentation, Susan did a quick touch-up on her makeup to look her best.
  • touch-up paint
  • Touch-Up Kit
  • quick touch-ups

Green flower for just a little touch up and red flower for a total overhaul.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • We have to do a few paint touch ups, but that's OK and it has amazing RGB.

  • No one is perfect enough to put on the front of a magazine without some airbrush touch-ups or Photoshop.

    Blog text (10)
  • Ready for a little paint touch up and off we go.

  • But you will have to be doing constant touch ups throughout the day to maintain the look.

  • Yeah, it's time for a touch-up, my old friend.

  • Give it a touch-up down here.

  • We better do a few touch-ups before you have some serious trouble.

    Fiction book (1994)
  • Ooh, looks like she needs a touch-up.

  • - All I needed was a touch-up.

  • In my case, I elected to ignore it for one year, then bought some touch-up paint and fixed it myself.

    Blog text (31)

Synonyms

beautification
vstouch-up
7 4.2

Making a place or thing look nicer

is specifically a small repair or improvement rather than a broad makeover
fix-up
vstouch-up
1 3.4

A small job to make something look or work better

focuses more on small surface improvements for appearance
detailing
vstouch-up
3.8

Work that adds small decorative parts to make something look better

is about broader small repairs and surface work rather than fine design work
tittivation
vstouch-up
9.9

Small changes that make a room or thing look nicer

includes small repairs as well as decorative improvements
prettification
vstouch-up
7.4

Making something look nicer without changing how it really is

can be a minor repair or real improvement, not only superficial change

Antonyms

43 5.9

A slow change when something like a building or a person's health becomes worse

How Extensive

restoration
15 4.2
to overhaul
35 4.6
touch-up
8 3.9

Surface Forms

touch-up singular
touch-ups plural

Morphology

touch-up = touch + up (transparent) = touch + up

Directly derived from the phrasal verb 'touch up' meaning to make a small improvement, so knowledge of 'touch' + 'up' yields the noun meaning.

Etymology

The word touch-up comes from two common words, touch ('to touch') and up ('make better'), so it feels like giving something a small touch to improve it. So a touch-up is a little repair or improvement to fix marks, chips, or small problems.