dress down

verb

dressed down; dressing down; dresses down

transitive verb

: to reprove severely

intransitive verb

: to dress casually especially for reasons of fashion

Synonyms

• baste
• bawl out
• berate
• call down
• castigate
• chastise
• chew out
• flay
• hammer
• jaw
• keelhaul
• lambaste
• lambast
• lecture
• rag
• rail (at or against)
• rant (at)
• rate
• ream (out)
• rebuke
• reprimand
• reproach
• scold
• score
• tongue-lash
• upbraid

Examples of dress down in a Sentence

dressed down for boorish behavior at the dance

Recent Examples on the Web

Elevate baggy jeans or dress down a dress with this effortless style. —Kristen Philipkoski, Forbes, 9 Jan. 2025

This cropped style, below, is a no-brainer in any winter wardrobe rotation, whether worn dressed down with a baggy blue jean and preppy penny loafer or up with a dazzling party dress and strappy heeled sandal. —Laura Jackson, Vogue, 2 Dec. 2024

Perfect for travel, the pants can be dressed up with a cute pair of comfortable flats or dressed down with an oversized sweatshirt for an overnight flight or train ride. —Taylor Fox, Travel + Leisure, 28 Dec. 2024

Her mob-boss-style dressing down of Shannon Beador; dealing with her friend Nicole James, who lied about suing Terry Dubrow; and her hatred of Noella Bergener gave her a barn burner of a season 16. —Brian Moylan, Vulture, 15 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1852, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Kids Definition

dress down

verb

1

: to criticize severely

2

: to dress casually