spruce

10 synonyms and 3 antonyms for spruce, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Noun — An evergreen conifer tree of the genus Picea, or its wood.

Synonyms

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

spiffy snappy natty dashing rakish raffish dapper jaunty titivate tittivate

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adj

Neat, trim, and smartly dressed.

“He looked spruce in his new suit for the interview.”

spiffy snappy natty dashing rakish raffish dapper jaunty

Opposites

untidy slovenly disorderly

2. verb

To make neater or smarter in appearance, often used with "up".

“They spruced up the old house before putting it on the market.”

titivate tittivate

How to use spruce

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

spruce up spruce tree looking spruce

Etymology

Originally a name for Prussia in Middle English; the tree was thought to come from there, and "spruce leather" from the same region gave neat-looking jerkins their name, which is how the word came to mean "smart and tidy."

Full origin of spruce →

Frequently asked questions

What does “spruce” mean?

The word “spruce” means an evergreen conifer tree of the genus Picea, or its wood. In plain terms, either the evergreen tree, or looking neat and smartly turned out — as a verb, to tidy something up.

How do you pronounce “spruce”?

“Spruce” is pronounced sproos (/spɹuːs/ in IPA).

How do you use “spruce” in a sentence?

Here is “spruce” used in a sentence: “The forest was thick with tall spruce trees.”

What part of speech is “spruce”?

Depending on how it is used, “spruce” can be a noun, an adjective and a verb.

Where does the word “spruce” come from?

The word “spruce” comes from Middle English.

Is “spruce” a common word?

“Spruce” is an uncommon word in modern English.

How many meanings does “spruce” have?

“Spruce” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: an evergreen conifer tree of the genus Picea, or its wood.

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dashing disorderly slovenly raffish jaunty dapper spiffy untidy natty snappy

Nearby words

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