What does “sich zurechtmachen” mean in German?

Wortschatz rund ums Schminken und Make-up

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A2 German listening practice · Standard German · Picked for people who know a little

💡 Did you know?
sich zurechtmachen
German getting-ready verb
to do yourself up — hair, makeup, jewelry, the works

“Ich habe mich gerade ein bisschen zurechtgemacht” — I just got myself done up. Sich zurechtmachen is the all-in-one verb for getting ready to be seen: makeup, hair, jewelry, the whole routine this clip then itemizes. The magic sits in zurecht-, a prefix meaning “into the right state”: machen alone is just “to make”; zurechtmachen is to make yourself right.

The zurecht- family is worth collecting: sich zurechtfinden (to find your way around a new city or app), zurechtkommen (to cope, to manage), sich etwas zurechtlegen (to lay something out ready — including an excuse). The clip supplies the beauty verbs to match: sich schminken, einen Lidstrich ziehen, Wimpern tuschen, Schmuck anlegen.

How common are the words?

How common are the words in this A2 German listening practice video?

82.5%
of words are in the top 2,000 most common German words
Most of the words in this video are common German words.

How common in written German

79.4%
Top 1,000
82.5%
Top 2,000
88.9%
Top 5,000

How common in spoken German

94%
Top 1,000
100%
Top 2,000
100%
Top 5,000
👄 Words for talking
This video uses words people often say in German.

Harder words in this video

These words are harder than A2. Here is what they mean.

geschminkt
2×
Not in top 5,000
made up (cosmetics)
getuscht
1×
Not in top 5,000
whispered; gossiped
lidschatten
1×
Not in top 5,000
eyeshadow
lidstrich
1×
Not in top 5,000
eyeliner
schminkst
1×
Not in top 5,000
you make up

Source: wordfreq 3.1.1 (general) · SUBTLEX-DE 2011 (spoken). These numbers are close, not perfect.

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