Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

freshen up

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.85 in modern English

Syllables: fresh-en up
IPA

17

Scrabble Score

9

Letters

2

Syllables

8

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To wash or groom oneself in order to be more attractive.

Intransitive verb

verb

To freshen, make fresh, revivify, make new.

Transitive verb

Example Sentences

"Women spend longer than men at freshening up before going out."
"After beating champions Chelsea 3-1 on Boxing Day, Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger made eight changes to his starting XI in an effort to freshen things up, with games against Birmingham and Manchester City to come in the next seven days."

Etymology

From freshen + up. Compare Saterland Frisian apfriskje (“to refresh, freshen up”), West Frisian opfrisje (“to refresh, freshen up”), Dutch opfrissen (“to refresh, freshen up”), German auffrischen (“to refresh, freshen up”).

Usage

Inflected Forms

freshens up (present, singular) freshening up (participle, present) freshened up (participle, past) freshened up (past)

Synonyms

freshen refresh refreshen refurbish renovate

Questions

What does freshen up mean?: To wash or groom oneself in order to be more attractive.
Where does freshen up come from?: From freshen + up. Compare Saterland Frisian apfriskje (“to refresh, freshen up”), West Frisian opfrisje (“to refresh, freshen up”), Dutch opfrissen (“to refresh, freshen up”), German auffrischen (“to refresh, freshen up”).

How to pronounce freshen up

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