titivate

English

WOTD – 13 April 2010

Etymology

Modification of earlier spelling tidivate, perhaps based on tidy + -vate, on the pattern of words like cultivate and renovate.

Pronunciation

• (UK, US) IPA^(key): /ˈtɪt.ɪ.veɪt/, /ˈtɪt.ə.veɪt/

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

Verb

titivate (third-person singular simple present titivates, present participle titivating, simple past and past participle titivated)

1. To make small improvements or alterations to (one's appearance etc.); to add some finishing touches to, to spruce up or touch up.
   • 1950, Mervyn Peake, Gormenghast:

     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?

Alternative forms

• tidivate
• tiddivate
• tittivate

Derived terms

• titivation
• titivator

Translations

to make small improvements to

• Bulgarian: украсявам се, спретвам се
• Finnish: huolitella (fi), viimeistellä (fi); (colloquial) huosia, pyntätä (fi), tällätä (fi), hiplata (fi)
• French: pomponner (fr)
• German: schniedeln
• Japanese: しゃれる
• Portuguese: enfeitar (pt), enfeitar-se
• Russian: наряжа́ть (ru) (narjažátʹ), наряжаться (ru) (narjažatʹsja), прихорашивать (ru) (prixorašivatʹ), прихорашиваться (ru) (prixorašivatʹsja)
• Spanish: arreglar (es), afeitar (es), adornar (es), vestirse de gala