dresses down
Gives a scolding
To dress down is to reprimand someone sharply, often in front of others: The sergeant dressed down the recruits for their sloppy uniforms.
The phrase also means to wear casual clothes rather than formal attire: On Fridays we dress down at the office.
These opposite-seeming meanings share a sense of reducing—either reducing someone's status through criticism or reducing the formality of one's appearance.
- scoldRebuke harshly
- reprimandFormal expression of disapproval
- castigateReprimand severely
- criticizeJudge unfavorably, vocally
- berateCriticize severely and lengthily
gives an earful · rebuke · reads the riot act · informal · relaxed · business casual · smart casual · laid-back · lecture · casualwear · upbraid · admonish · plain · reproves · tell off · unpretentious · censure · comfortable
- criticismscriticizes, disparages, condemns, denounces, censures