Sunday best
Formal worship attire
Sunday best is a person's finest clothing, traditionally reserved for church attendance: She put on her Sunday best for the service.
The phrase evokes a time when people dressed formally for weekly worship.
Now used more broadly for any occasion requiring one's nicest attire: The kids were scrubbed and in their Sunday best for the wedding.
Matched formal garments
- gownLong formal garment
- dressSkirted one-piece garment
- tieEqual score, or neckwear
- blazerSemiformal tailored jacket
dress shoes · hat · gloves · petticoat · crinoline · bonnet · waistcoat · frock
Orderly, or undiluted
- polishedSmooth, refined, accomplished
- groomedMade neat and tidy
- presentableFit to be seen
- dapperNeatly and stylishly dressed
spruce · sharp · tidy · well-turned-out · prim · proper · immaculate · crisp
Aid or maintenance
- pewWorship hall seating
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- sermonClergy's worship address
- hymnReligious song of praise
worship · sabbath · chapel · parish · minister · choir · fellowship · prayer
Habitual group practice
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- observanceKeeping of customs
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
- proprietyCorrectness of conduct
decorum · upbringing · old-fashioned · generational · heirloom · handed-down
Marriage rite and feast
- christeningCeremony naming a child
- baptismRitual water purification ceremony
- funeralService honoring the dead
- EasterResurrection commemoration day
communion · confirmation · graduation · holiday dinner · family gathering · reunion · anniversary · memorial
suit
Matched formal garments
blazer · dress shoes · hat · gloves · petticoat · crinoline · bonnet · waistcoat · frock · starched collar
neat
Orderly, or undiluted
- polishedSmooth, refined, accomplished
- groomedMade neat and tidy
- presentableFit to be seen
dapper · spruce · sharp · tidy · well-turned-out · prim · proper · immaculate · crisp · dignified
service
Aid or maintenance
- pewWorship hall seating
- congregationAssembled group of worshippers
- sermonClergy's worship address
hymn · worship · sabbath · chapel · parish · minister · choir · fellowship · prayer · mass
custom
Habitual group practice
- heritageInherited cultural legacy
- observanceKeeping of customs
- respectabilityMoral and social worthiness
propriety · decorum · upbringing · old-fashioned · generational · heirloom · handed-down
wedding
Marriage rite and feast
- christeningCeremony naming a child
- baptismRitual water purification ceremony
- funeralService honoring the dead
Easter · communion · confirmation · graduation · holiday dinner · family gathering · reunion · anniversary · memorial · ceremony
- appearance idiomsall dolled up, dolled up, done up, dressed to kill, dressed to the nines
- clothing slangthreads, duds, getup, fit, drip
- dress codesblack tie, white tie, business casual, business formal, smart casual
- dressed updressed up, dolled up, decked out, spruced up, gussied up
- Sunday bestchurch hat, dress, suit, dress shirt, dress shoes
- dressed statesdressed, undressed, clothed, unclothed, naked
Sunday besteveryday wear
Ordinary daily clothing
rags · work clothes · old clothes · grubbies · tatters
Sunday bestworkwear
Garments for employment
gym clothes · play clothes · uniforms · overalls · coveralls
best, sunrise, sunlight, sunshine, sundown, sunburn, sunburned, Sunday, sunglasses