bedizen

American

[bih-dahy-zuhn, -diz-uhn] / bɪˈdaɪ zən, -ˈdɪz ən /

verb (used with object)

to dress or adorn in a showy, gaudy, or tasteless manner.

She was bedizened in a sequined gown and an enormous feathered headpiece.
To my dismay, the new PR team bedizened our website with animated images and text.

bedizen British

/ bɪˈdaɪzən, -ˈdɪzən /

verb

archaic (tr) to dress or decorate gaudily or tastelessly

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

bedizenment noun
unbedizened adjective

Etymology

Origin of bedizen

First recorded in 1655–65; be- + dizen

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Now, all Mildred's beads, feather boas, and skin-tight finery bedizen the substantial person of Kim Novak.

From Time Magazine Archive

Elsie de Wolfe, famed mistress of decor, paid a professional compliment when she engaged Artist Wilson to bedizen her shop.

From Time Magazine Archive

Saab, IBM, MasterCard and clear-beer Zima are among the sponsors whose winking logos bedizen every screenful of Word.

From Time Magazine Archive

Unfazed, the Lip zipped to Manhattan to bedizen his ample middle with a $500 gold-plated championship belt from Ring Magazine.

From Time Magazine Archive

And so, to the courtyard proceeding, Our company, Francis was leading, 20 Increased by new followers tenfold Before he arrived at the penfold; Lords, ladies, like clouds which bedizen At sunset the western horizon.

From Dramatic Romances by Browning, Robert

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023