spruce up

phrasal verb

spruced up; sprucing up; spruces up

: to make (someone or something) look cleaner, neater, or more attractive

We spruced up the room with a fresh coat of paint.

I need to spruce myself up a bit before we go out to dinner.

Did you know?

titivate, spruce up, smarten up, or spiff up?

Titivate, spruce, smarten, and spiff all mean "to make a person or thing neater or more attractive." Titivate often refers to making small additions or alterations in attire ("titivate the costume with sequins and other accessories"), but it can also be used figuratively (as in "titivating the script for Broadway"). Spruce up is sometimes used for cosmetic changes or renovations that give the appearance of newness ("spruce up the house with new shutters and fresh paint before trying to sell it"). Smarten up and spiff up both mean to improve in appearance often by making more neat or stylish ("the tailor smartened up the suit with minor alterations"; "he needed some time to spiff himself up for the party"). The origins of titivate are uncertain, but it may have been formed from the English words tidy and renovate.

Examples of spruce up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Volunteers are meeting this weekend in Central City, Treme, Hollygrove, Algiers, Rosedale, and the 7th Ward to spruce up streets and parks in advance of the Super Bowl. —David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 31 Jan. 2025

Need extra seating and want to spruce up a living room? —Sophia Beams, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Jan. 2025

The revamp also includes a new restaurant and cocktail bar, spruced up common spaces and redesigned guest suites. —Asher Price, Axios, 24 Jan. 2025

The Palace didn’t just pull off a modest spruce up either. —John Oseid, Forbes, 23 Dec. 2024