Word.ws English Dictionary

done up

done up is the past participle of do up.

Adjective

done up (comparative more done up, superlative most done up)

  1. (colloquial, obsolete) Worn-out, exhausted.
    • "You'd better lie down for a bit. I expect you're about done up." -- "There's nowhere for me to lie down, sir," he answered, and there was in his voice a humbleness which was very distressing. -- "Don't you know anyone in the house who'll give you a shakedown? -- "No, sir."1915, W.S. Maugham, Of Human Bondage
    • "By ginger, I'm glad you came along, Mudgy; I give you my word I couldn't have walked another half-mile. I'm done up, absolutely."1938, Norman Lindsay, Age of Consent, 1st Australian edition, Sydney, N.S.W.: Ure Smith, published 1962, →OCLC, page 65
  2. (US, colloquial, obsolete) Ruined by excess, especially gambling.
    • Near-synonyms: effete, dissipated
    Synonyms:
    effete, dissipated

Meaning of do up

Verb

do up (third-person singular simple present does up, present participle doing up, simple past did up, past participle done up)

  1. (idiomatic, transitive) To fasten (a piece of clothing, etc.); to tighten (a nut etc.)
    • I can't do up my shirt. The button is missing.
    Antonyms:
    undo
  2. (colloquial, idiomatic, transitive) To redecorate (a room, etc.); to make improvements to (a home or domestic property).
    • Near-synonyms: fix up, spruce up, vamp up
  3. (idiomatic, informal, transitive) To execute a task or performance; to execute it well.
    • This time I'm going to do it up right.
  4. (idiomatic, transitive) To pack together and envelop; to pack up, tie up, or both.
    • I did up the parcel with string and took it to the post office.
  5. (dated, transitive) To accomplish thoroughly.
  6. (archaic, transitive) To starch and iron.
    • a rich gown of velvet, and a ruff done up with the famous yellow starch1850, Nathaniel Hawthorne, chapter 20, in The Scarlet Letter, a Romance, Boston, Mass.: Ticknor, Reed, and Fields, →OCLC

See all 8 meanings of do up

Synonyms of done up

30 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of done up

comparativemore done up
superlativemost done up

Questions about done up

What does done up mean?
Done up means worn-out, exhausted.
What is done up the past participle of?
Done up is the past participle of do up.
What part of speech is done up?
Done up is an adjective.

Words near done up in the dictionary

  1. done things
  2. done time
  3. done to death
  4. done tricks on it
  5. done unto others
  6. done up
  7. done up like a dog's dinner
  8. done up like a kipper
  9. done violence to
  10. done well
  11. done well by doing good

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: done up (page history and authors); do up (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this entry: “done up.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/done_up. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.