smarten
/ˈsmɑːt(ə)n
/verb (smarten up or smarten someone/thing up)
1Make or become smarter in appearance: [with object]: he spent part of the proceeds on smartening up his flat [no object]: if there was water to spare I would smarten up and shave...
- Grandeur in appearance now that it had been smartened up, I desperately tried to avoid it.
- When Stefanidis moved in, the eastern boundary was ‘a rather sad wooden fence, so I put in a wall’, which smartens the place up and gives more privacy.
- We are looking at smartening it up and putting in an external food serving area the pupils could use at break and lunchtime.
Synonyms
spruce up, make smarter, clean up, tidy up, make neater, make tidy, put in order;
redecorate, refurbish, brighten up, modernize
informal do up
British informal tart up, posh up
North American informal gussy up
groom oneself, spruce oneself up, freshen oneself up, preen oneself, primp oneself, prink oneself, pretty oneself, beautify oneself
informal titivate oneself, doll oneself up
British informal tart oneself up
archaic plume oneself, trig oneself
2 [no object] Behave more wisely: if you don’t smarten up soon, you’ll find yourself out on the street
