titivate
verbUK, US /ˈtɪt.ɪ.veɪt/
Etymology A modification of the earlier spelling tidivate, perhaps based on tidy + -vate, on the pattern of words such as cultivate and renovate.
1
To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to, to spruce up or touch up.
- Had she spent the best part of a day in titivating herself in order that she might sit plunged in darkness, with nothing but her feet and her nose revealed?1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast:
- Derived terms
- titivation, titivator