1985, Peter Burton, Parallel Lives, →ISBN, page 38:
As feely homies (young men), when we launched ourselves onto the gay scene, polari was all the rage. We would zhoosh (style) our riahs (hair), powder our eeks (faces), climb into our bona (fabulous) new drag (clothes), don our batts (shoes) and troll (go, walk) off some bona bijou (little) bar.
Mostly the words are dusted off and brought out when we wish to zhoosh up the conversation, to announce a particular delight in our queenly style.
1997, James Gardiner, Who's a Pretty Boy Then?, →ISBN, page 123:
Well, she schlumphed her Vera down the screech at a rate of knots, zhooshed up the riah, checked the slap in the mirror behind the bar, straightened up one ogle fake riah that had come adrift, and bold as brass orderlied over as fast as she could manage in those bats and, in her best lips, asked, if she could parker the omi a bevvy.
When I worked at Ralph Lauren, whenever we were styling looks for runway shows or on models, Ralph and Jerry Lauren would turn to me and say, “Carson give that a little tszuj.” “Tszuj it” just means tweak it, finesse it, make it better, make it personal.
2008, Heath L. Buckmaster, Homo Sarcasmus — The Best of the Blog Volume 1.0, page 49:
I finish, I go get dressed, and head back into the bathroom to tszuj my hair and leave.
2009 May 27, Ruth La Ferla, “To Dress for Success, You Must Trust His Eye”, in The New York Times[1]:
Mr. Warburton, a volunteer, swept into the group’s headquarters in the Hotel Pennsylvania, a team of hair stylists in tow, his objective to “zhoosh up” the women’s looks, he said.
2013 February 21, Hilary Mantel, “Royal Bodies”, in London Review of Books[2], volume 35, number 4:
Get your pink frilly frocks out, zhuzh up your platinum locks. We are all Barbara Cartland now.
2014 June 6, Kirsty Blake Knox, “Rain doesn't dampen the spirits at Pride of Ireland”, in Irish Independent[3]:
It's starlets' and socialites' worst nightmare; having spent hours picking out the right frock and 'jushing' hair to perfection, the heavens open and you're left standing on the red carpet like a drowned rat.
2016 November 29, Michelle Ruiz, “Don’t Worry Your Pretty Little Heads About What Hillary Clinton Is Up To”, in Vogue[4]:
In her rare postelection appearance at the Children’s Defense Fund, she was picked apart for not wearing makeup or zhoozhing her hair—never mind the man with the can o’tan complexion and comb-over we are about to inaugurate.
2017, Amy Andrews, Playing With Forever:
Very white collar with his dirty blond hair trendily short at the back and sides, the longer bit on top artfully jushed. Not to mention his designer three-day growth manicured to within an inch of its dirty blond life.
2018 December 31, Sarah Young, “Outfit Idea for Evert New Year's Eve Event”, in The Independent[5]:
Here, you are ultimately left with two choices; slum it in sweats or slip into something sparkly.¶ Of course, the former is entirely acceptable when dodging the world of triple-priced taxis but there’s no reason you can’t zhoozh up an otherwise mundane experience by dressing up a little.
2019, Portia MacIntosh, Honeymoon For One:
As I tszuj my newly freed hair, I realise that the plait has left me with some sort of crimped effect. I run my hands over it, but I can feel how big and eighties it must be looking.
2020 March 1, David Williams, Kathleen Johnston, Olive Pometsey, “London’s best boxing gyms”, in GQ UK[6]:
Jab is looking to bring back the “old school to London’s fitness scene”. But while it draws on the heritage of boxing in Britain and London’s East End, it twists it and zhuzhes it up for those of us who want to get a great workout but with instructors and a really lovely studio.
2021 December 21, Anna Berrill, “Final magic touches to zhoosh your Christmas lunch”, in The Guardian[7]:
Christmas dinner is stressful enough without busting out recipes you’ve never made before. That said, if Sue is after a little zhoosh, she might want to consider how she dresses her veg.
2021, Michelle Dudash, “Simple Green Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Lemon-Mint Vinaigrette”, in Clean Eating Kitchen: The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook, Fair Winds Press, →ISBN, page 43:
My grandma always used iceberg lettuce, but my cousin and I zhuzh it up with other greens.
2012 July 19, Denis Droppa, “TESTED: Etios is practical and perky”, in Independent Online[8]:
The car seems pretty well screwed together in general, it’s just that the interior styling is very bland and nothing like the zhoozh cockpits of more modern small cars such as the Aygo, Kia Picanto or Hyundai Accent.
2014, Joanne Brodie, People Who Are Addicted To Sex, →ISBN:
Dorian limped into my flat and, although he sported a grey, strappy moon-boot, he appeared the fabulous, famous fashionista, what with a scarlet silk shirt, lime linen trousers and a lime-green paisley velvet waistcoat. Sounds quite hideous, I realise, but he looked so zhuzh! Maybe one had to be there. Actually Dorian was a rather well known fashion designer and was becoming more in demand by the minute.
2005 March, Out, volume 13, number 9, outsource, page 65:
If ever a website matched its owner, www.Ladybunny.net, the cyberspace home of Manhattan drag comedienne, Wigstock founder, and jet set DJ, this is it. Serving up a slickly psychedelic zhoozh of glitz, glamour, and go-go graphics, the website is a riot of color, video and music.
2014 July 29, Daisy Dumas, “Sokyo offers modern Japanese dining”, in Sydney Morning Herald[9]:
If Hatsune Miku, Japan’s chart-topping vocaloid pop star, was a human, she’d eat at Sokyo when she visits Sydney. Failing that, she’d drink at its bar. High on Tokyo glam, Star casino’s zhuzh factor is in overdrive here, giving it, as [Laura] Csortan.
2015 September 22, Jonathan Van Meter, quoting Oprah Winfrey, “Michael Kors Takes Us Inside His Relaxed-Chic Beach House”, in Vogue[10]:
“I love wearing his clothes,” says Oprah Winfrey. “In a few days I’m meeting some friends on their boat in Spain, and my clothes are all Kors separates and that fabulous, fabulous linen skirt that he did this year. They’re like play clothes, but they’ve got a little zhoozh. I like clothes with zhoozh.”
2016 June 7, Tilda Swinton, quotee, “Tilda Swinton Shared A Moving Tribute To David Bowie At The CFDAs”, in Elle[11]:
Thank you for your happiness and your eternal Bona-ness and zhoosh.
2018 September 21, Siobhan Burke, quoting Kyle Abraham, “The Choreographer Kyle Abraham Mixes Things Up at City Ballet”, in New York Times[12]:
“I’m not trying to make ‘Save the Last Dance’ at City Ballet,” he said. “Like that canned version of ballet with an urban zhoozh. I’m fighting to not be doing that.”
2020 June 18, Simon Doonan, “Let's Return to the Exuberance of Window Shopping”, in Town & Country[13]:
I grew up in a rain-lashed industrial town near London. Glamour and excitement were thin on the ground. The Swinging Sixties had yet to swing. No telly, no luxuries, no zhoosh. Except at Christmas time. Once a year, the local department store would festoon the window displays with twinkly lights and fake garland.
2021, Diane Kelly, Getaway With Murder (The Mountain Lodge Mysteries; 1), →ISBN:
But as the evening wore on, nearly all of them ended outside on the deck, enjoying the cool evening air and the stunning sunset view. Rocky had been right. A deck was just the thing this lodge needed to give it some zhuzh.
2022 January 21, “The Monocle Minute”, in Monocle[14]:
Beyond the zhoosh, spangle and splendour, there’s substance to the development too.
