decorate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to furnish or adorn with something ornamental or becoming; embellish.
to decorate walls with murals.
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to plan and execute the design, furnishings, and ornamentation of the interior of (a house, office, apartment, etc.), especially by selecting colors, fabrics, and style of furniture, by making minor structural changes, etc..
Their house is decorated in French Provincial style.
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to confer distinction upon by a badge, a medal of honor, etc..
to decorate a soldier for valor.
verb
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(tr) to make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc
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to paint or wallpaper (a room, house, etc)
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(tr) to confer a mark of distinction, esp a military medal, upon
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(tr) to evaporate a metal film onto (a crystal) in order to display dislocations in structure
Other Word Forms
- overdecorate verb
- redecorate verb
- undecorate verb (used with object)
Etymology
Origin of decorate
1375–1425; late Middle English (adj.) < Latin decorātus (past participle of decorāre ), equivalent to decor- (stem of decus ) an ornament, splendor, honor ( decent ) + -ātus -ate 1
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
I’m sitting in my usual place, fiddling with the loose string on the armrest, a throw cushion decorated with orange, blue, and yellow beads stitched in a pattern of repeated circles in my lap.
From Literature
Brickbane, the Usher before, had decorated much differently: the walls and ceiling bare.
From Literature
There is also a home theater, a wet bar, a game room, a gym, a massage room, and a beautifully decorated office with a fireplace.
From MarketWatch
One of the youngest sweet tooths is Matilda, six, who helped her mum Jasmin Gelsana, 36, decorate a store-bought cake, and who happily admits: "I'm a good eater, not a baker".
From BBC
Now retired, he is Britain's most decorated diver having competed in five Olympic Games and collected three bronze, one silver and one gold medal.
From BBC
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
