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undress

/ʌnˈdɹɛs/verb, noun

undress is spelled U-N-D-R-E-S-S: 7 letters and 2 syllables. It appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a verb, undress means “To remove one’s clothing” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).

How many letters and syllables are in undress?

Letters7: U-N-D-R-E-S-S
Syllables2 (from its American pronunciation)
In writingabout once in every 1 million words; the 34,063rd most frequent word form
Wrong spellings searchednone measured in search

Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How common is undress?

Undress appears about once in every 1 million words in written English, the 34,063rd most frequent word form in the list.

Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).

How do you pronounce undress?

  • /ʌnˈdɹɛs/

As a noun (“Partial or informal dress for women, as worn in the home…”): /ʌnˈdɹɛs/, /ʌnˈdɹɛs/, /ˈʌndɹɛs/.

Undress has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-undress.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).

Forms of undress

  • undresses present, singular, he/she/it, plural
  • undressing participle, present
  • undressed participle, past

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What does undress mean?

The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).

verb

  1. 1

    archaicTo remove one's clothing.

    She undressed herself before putting on her bedclothes.

  2. 2

    To remove one’s clothing.

    The doctor asked me to undress for the examination.

  3. 3

    To remove the clothing of (someone).

    Mary began to undress her daughter in preparation for bathtime.

  4. 4

    To strip something off.

  5. 5

    To take the dressing, or covering, from.

    to undress a wound

noun

  1. 1

    archaicPartial or informal dress for women, as worn in the home rather than in public.

  2. 2

    archaicInformal clothing for men, as opposed to formal or ceremonial wear.

  3. 3

    Now more specifically, a state of having few or no clothes on.

    She returned to her dorm to find her roommate, fresh out of the shower, in a state of undress.

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

Undress in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese

LanguageWords
Frenchse déshabiller ((intransitive) remove one's clothing), déshabiller ((transitive) remove somebody’s clothing)
Germansich ausziehen ((intransitive) remove one's clothing), ausziehen ((transitive) remove somebody’s clothing)
Portuguesedespir-se, tirar a roupa ((intransitive) remove one's clothing), despir, desvestir ((transitive) remove somebody’s clothing)
Spanishdesvestirse, desnudarse, calatearse, desarroparse ((intransitive) remove one's clothing), desvestir, calatear ((transitive) remove somebody’s clothing)

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.

Where does undress come from?

From Middle English undressen, equivalent to un- + dress. Compare Old English unsċrȳdan (“to undress”, literally “un-shroud”).

Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).

What to look up after undress