undress

To undress means to take off your clothes or to remove someone else's clothes. People usually use it when getting ready for bed, taking a bath or shower, changing clothes, or helping a child get ready. You can say someone undressed after work and put on something comfortable, or that a parent undressed a tired child before bedtime.

The word can also be used as a noun in the phrase in undress, which is an old-fashioned way to talk about informal clothes or a less formal uniform. Figurative uses do exist, but they are much less common and can sound literary.

The main meaning of undress is simple: to remove clothes from yourself or from another person. It often appears in everyday situations such as getting ready for bed, stepping into the shower, changing into fresh clothes, or helping a small child change. For example, someone might undress after coming home, or a nurse might undress a patient before an examination.

This verb can be used both intransitively and transitively. A person can undress on their own, and they can also undress a baby, a patient, or someone who needs help. Because of that, the word is common in family, medical, and care-related contexts. The tone is usually neutral, but the word can also sound intimate depending on the situation.

There is also an older noun use. In historical or formal writing, undress can mean informal clothing or a less formal version of a uniform, especially when compared with full dress. You may see phrases like in undress in older texts, but this is not common in modern everyday English.

Sometimes writers use undress in a figurative way to suggest exposing something or stripping something back, but that is not the usual meaning. In most cases, learners should understand the word first as one connected to taking off clothes.