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dress down

 
Idioms: dress down
 


1.  Scold, reprimand, as in The sergeant will dress down the entire unit. In the 15th century the verb dress alone was used in the sense of "punish," down being added several centuries later. It also gave rise to the noun dressing down for punishment with blows or words. For example, The teacher gave the girls a severe dressing down.
2.  Wear informal clothes, as in It's best to dress down for a party like a barbecue. [Mid-1900s] For the antonym, see dress up.


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Antonyms: dress down
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Definition: scold
Antonyms: compliment, flatter, praise


 
WordNet: dress down
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Note: click on a word meaning below to see its connections and related words.

The verb has 2 meanings:

Meaning #1: censure severely or angrily
  Synonyms: rebuke, rag, trounce, reproof, lecture, reprimand, jaw, scold, chide, berate, bawl out, remonstrate, chew out, chew up, have words, lambaste, lambast

Meaning #2: put on clothes that make a careless or ill-dressed impression
  Synonym: underdress
  Antonym: dress up (meaning #1)


 
 
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call down (Idiom)

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Copyrights:

Idioms. The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms. © 1999-2009 by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
WordNet. WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.  Read more