dowdy up
C1 informal separable transitive
In simple words
To dress someone or style something in a boring or unfashionable way.
Literal meaning: To make (someone) up to look dowdy (unfashionable).
Meanings
1 C1
idiomatic
informal
To style someone deliberately to look dull, frumpy, or unfashionable, often for a role or performance.
"The make-up team dowed her up for the role of the village schoolmistress."
Grammar: separable
Usage notes
Very rare. Sometimes used in fashion, film, or theatre contexts when a character needs to appear deliberately unglamorous. Formed from the adjective 'dowdy' (old-fashioned, dull in appearance). Most speakers would not recognise this as a standard phrasal verb.
Commonly used with
character actress costume look wardrobe
Forms
Base
dowdy up
I/you/we/they
3rd person
dowdies up
he/she/it
Past simple
dowdied up
yesterday
Past participle
dowdied up
have + pp
-ing form
dowdying up
continuous
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