gussyv.
/ˈɡʌsi/ slang.
With up: to smarten up.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [verb (transitive)] > make smart
tonify1786
gussy1952
pimp2000
1952 in H. Wentworth & S. B. Flexner Dict. Amer. Slang (1960) 236 When I get all gussied up, somebody says, ‘Pull in your pot!’
1959 M. Chamberlin Dear Friends & Darling Romans (1960) iv. 41 The French have gussied up their Riviera, so you can't see the foliage for the freaks.
Derivatives
ˈgussied adj.
ΚΠ
1960 J. Kirkwood There must be Pony! viii. 61 She was all gussied up..she looked very attractive.
1963 Spectator 1 Mar. 260 Dressy, not to say gussied-up.
1970 M. G. Eberhart El Rancho Rio (1971) iii. 23 ‘You're really all gussied up... Coast slang for dressed up,’ she explained.
ˈgussy adj.
ΘΚΠ
the mind > attention and judgement > fashionableness > [adjective] > smart
gallantc1420
galliard1513
fine1526
trickly1580
pink1598
genteel1601
sparkful1605
sparkish1657
jaunty1662
spankinga1666
shanty1685
trig1725
smartish1738
distinguished1748
nobby1788
dashing1801
vaudy1805
swell1810
distingué1813
dashy1822
nutty1823
chic1832
slicked1836
flash1838
rakish1840
spiffy1853
smart1860
sassy1861
classy1870
spiffing1872
toffish1873
tony1877
swish1879
hep1899
toffy1901
hip1904
toppy1905
in1906
floozy1911
swank1913
jazz1917
ritzy1919
smooth1920
snappy1925
snazzy1931
groovy1937
what ho1937
gussy1940
criss1954
high camp1954
sprauncy1957
James Bondish1966
James Bond1967
schmick1972
designer1978
atas1993
as fine as fivepence-
1940 M. Marples Public School Slang 126 Gussy: of over-dressed persons.
This entry has not yet been fully updated (first published 1972; most recently modified version published online March 2018).
<
v.1940