bedeck

[ bih-dek ]

verb (used with object)

1. to deck out; adorn, especially in a showy or gaudy manner.

   Synonyms: enhance, beautify, ornament, decorate, array

bedeck

/ bɪˈdɛk /

verb

1. tr to cover with decorations; adorn

Other Words From

• unbe·decked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of bedeck¹

First recorded in 1560–70; be- + deck

Example Sentences

An hour later in a slightly sweaty hotel ballroom bedecked with “Unionize California” signs, Friedman was being treated like the belle of the ball at the California Labor Federation’s annual awards dinner.

From Los Angeles Times

Their bodies were their canvases, which they bedecked in feather boas, tutus, corsets, Victorian petticoats, Edwardian frock coats, wigs, wings, headdresses, ribbons, sequins, rhinestones, satin, face paint and an abundance of glitter.

From New York Times

Smudgy cartoonlike pastels coexisted with raw plaster works and jewel boxes bedecked elaborately with wool, glass, straight pins, knives and sometimes taxidermized birds — animistic objects that resembled little else being made in the 1960s.

From New York Times

Renaissance and Medieval pieces, and the “quality camp” or “fantasy furniture” he favored — weird and whimsical pieces embellished with mythical creatures; chairs sprouting antlers, torcheres bedecked with gargoyles, commodes atop griffin feet.

From New York Times

Devotees from across the country have arrived to celebrate the opening, with groups of them dancing to religious songs that blare from speakers on roads bedecked with flowers.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• adorn
• decorate
• embellish