Standard Lemma guide

titivate

verb · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK, US: /ˈtɪt.ɪ.veɪt/
  • UK, US: /ˈtɪt.ə.veɪt/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

verb

Meaning 1

To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to, to spruce up or touch up.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

make neat, smart, or trim

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • Spruce up your house for Spring
  • titivate the child

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: spruce up, spruce, tittivate, smarten up, slick up, spiff up

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fancify, beautify, embellish, prettify

History

Etymology

A modification of the earlier spelling tidivate, perhaps based on tidy + -vate, on the pattern of words such as cultivate and renovate.

Across languages

Translations

24 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Bulgarian: украсявам се — to make small improvements to
  • Bulgarian: спретвам се — to make small improvements to
  • Czech: vyšňořit — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: huolitella — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: viimeistellä — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: huosia — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: pyntätä — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: tällätä — to make small improvements to
  • Finnish: hiplata — to make small improvements to
  • French: pomponner — to make small improvements to
  • German: schniedeln — to make small improvements to
  • Japanese: しゃれる — to make small improvements to
  • Polish: odpicowywać — to make small improvements to
  • Polish: odpicować — to make small improvements to
  • Portuguese: enfeitar — to make small improvements to
  • Portuguese: enfeitar-se — to make small improvements to
  • Russian: наряжа́ть (narjažátʹ) — to make small improvements to
  • Russian: наряжаться (narjažatʹsja) — to make small improvements to
  • Russian: прихорашивать (prixorašivatʹ) — to make small improvements to
  • Russian: прихорашиваться (prixorašivatʹsja) — to make small improvements to
  • Spanish: arreglar — to make small improvements to
  • Spanish: afeitar — to make small improvements to
  • Spanish: adornar — to make small improvements to
  • Spanish: vestirse de gala — to make small improvements to