zhuzh

English

Etymology

Originally from Polari zhoosh.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ʒʊʒ/

• Audio (General American):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ʊʒ
• Homophones: zhoosh (one pronunciation), zhoozh

Verb

zhuzh (third-person singular simple present zhuzhes, present participle zhuzhing, simple past and past participle zhuzhed)

1. Alternative form of zhoosh
   • 2013 February 21, Hilary Mantel, “Royal Bodies”, in London Review of Books‎^[1], volume 35, number 4:

     Get your pink frilly frocks out, zhuzh up your platinum locks. We are all Barbara Cartland now.

   • 2020 March 1, David Williams, Kathleen Johnston, Olive Pometsey, “London’s best boxing gyms”, in GQ UK‎^[2]:

     Jab is looking to bring back the “old school to London’s fitness scene”. But while it draws on the heritage of boxing in Britain and London’s East End, it twists it and zhuzhes it up for those of us who want to get a great workout but with instructors and a really lovely studio.

   • 2021, Michelle Dudash, “Simple Green Salad with Tomatoes, Cucumbers, and Lemon-Mint Vinaigrette”, in Clean Eating Kitchen: The Low-Carb Mediterranean Cookbook, Fair Winds Press, →ISBN, page 43:

     My grandma always used iceberg lettuce, but my cousin and I zhuzh it up with other greens.

   • 2022, Caimh McDonnell, This Charming Man (The Stranger Times; 2), →ISBN:

     'Hey, I thought you were going to zhuzh this place up a bit?'

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:zhoosh.

Adjective

zhuzh (comparative more zhuzh, superlative most zhuzh)

1. Alternative form of zhoosh
   • 2014, Joanne Brodie, People Who Are Addicted To Sex, →ISBN:

     Dorian limped into my flat and, although he sported a grey, strappy moon-boot, he appeared the fabulous, famous fashionista, what with a scarlet silk shirt, lime linen trousers and a lime-green paisley velvet waistcoat. Sounds quite hideous, I realise, but he looked so zhuzh! Maybe one had to be there. Actually Dorian was a rather well known fashion designer and was becoming more in demand by the minute.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:zhoosh.

Noun

zhuzh (countable and uncountable, plural zhuzhes)

1. Alternative form of zhoosh
   • 2021, Diane Kelly, Getaway With Murder (The Mountain Lodge Mysteries; 1), →ISBN:

     But as the evening wore on, nearly all of them ended outside on the deck, enjoying the cool evening air and the stunning sunset view. Rocky had been right. A deck was just the thing this lodge needed to give it some zhuzh.

   • For more quotations using this term, see Citations:zhoosh.