adjective
Other Word Forms
- decoratively adverb
- decorativeness noun
- nondecorative adjective
- overdecorative adjective
- overdecoratively adverb
- overdecorativeness noun
- undecorative adjective
Etymology
Origin of decorative
Explanation
Things that are decorative have no purpose except to look pretty. Blueberry bushes produce fruit that humans and birds can eat, while boxwood shrubs are purely decorative. The fake buttons on your winter coat are just decorative — then again, your high heeled shoes are more decorative than useful, and your jewelry and makeup is also decorative. The knickknacks on your mantel, the wreath on your front door, and the creepy doll collection in your living room are all decorative as well. These things dress up or ornament your home, and decorative comes from the Latin root decorare, "to decorate, adorn, or beautify."
Vocabulary lists containing decorative
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.
More than 400 small manufacturing clusters here make glass items ranging from car headlamp covers and bangles to light shades, decorative items and chandeliers, feeding a domestic market worth over $200mn.
From BBC • Apr. 28, 2026
Initially intriguing, the jumbled chronology eventually proves to be largely decorative until a disappointing late-reel twist explains why the labored device was deployed in the first place.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 26, 2026
Meanwhile, I inherited a mortgage, along with several guns, broken exercise equipment, cabinets full of expired pills and 34 decorative fish.
From Salon • Mar. 24, 2026
It also cancelled decorative light displays on government buildings on Eid and those scheduled for Independence Day celebrations on March 26 and asked shopping malls to do the same.
From Barron's • Mar. 23, 2026
Desperate to escape him, I entered the next building I came across—the Krupp Pavilion, a fortresslike structure whose tower was adorned with decorative eagles and the red, white and black flag of the German Empire.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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.
