adorn
Americanverb (used with object)
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adorns,
present (3rd person singular)
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adorned,
past participle, past
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adorning
present participle
verb
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to decorate
she adorned her hair with flowers
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to increase the beauty, distinction, etc, of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adornernoun
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adornmentnoun
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nonadornernoun
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overadornverb (used with object)
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preadornverb (used with object)
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readornverb (used with object)
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superadornverb (used with object)
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nonadorningadjective
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readorningadjective
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self-adorningadjective
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adorninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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adornsimple
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adornssimple
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have adornedperfect
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has adornedperfect
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am adorningprogressive
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are adorningprogressive
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is adorningprogressive
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have been adorningperfect progressive
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has been adorningperfect progressive
Past
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adornedsimple
-
had adornedperfect
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was adorningprogressive
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were adorningprogressive
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had been adorningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of adorn
First recorded in 1325–75; Middle English adornen, from Latin adōrnāre, equivalent to ad- ad- + ōrnāre “to dress” ( see ornate); replacing late Middle English aourne, from Middle French, from Latin
Explanation
To adorn is to dress something up by decorating it. You might adorn your poncho with fringe or your poodle's dog collar with rhinestones. Adorn shares some Latin roots with words like ornament and ornate. So it makes sense that some people adorn their Christmas trees with tinsel and lights. Others adorn their eyelids with glitter. In any case, if you want to adorn yourself with all kinds of fabulous baubles, it might be wise to follow Coco Chanel's advice: take at least one accessory off before you walk out the door.
Vocabulary lists containing adorn
100 SAT Words Beginning with "A"
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"The Gift of the Magi" by O. Henry
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"The Necklace" by Guy de Maupassant
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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.
See Examples For:
In the southern parts of the cities, closer to the border with Mexico, modest residential homes with green front lawns adorn along palm tree-lined streets.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026
A giant guitar sculpture dominates the central square, guitar murals adorn walls and pavements and even the rubbish bins are shaped like guitars.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
A video from 2015 shows how, in Ojibwe tradition, dancers provide healing through the rhythmic music created, with every step they take, by the numerous cone-shaped bells that adorn their jingle-dresses.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 15, 2026
Nailed on to adorn bedroom walls from Buenos Aires to Barcelona and be splashed across billboards the world over.
From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026
Stylized painting and sculpture existed only to teach religion and adorn cathedrals—the true masterpieces of the Middle Ages.
From "The Annotated Mona Lisa" by Carol Strickland and John Boswell
Go for a stroll through Trabzon on matchday and it is Salah's face which adorns everything.
From BBC ● Nov. 8, 2026
Glimpses of the Doheny Mansion, clockwise from left: the music room; a stained glass sky light; a sculpture adorns a table in the Pompeian Room.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026
Abehsera said he struck a deal with local partners, an Albanian conglomerate called Kastrati, whose name adorns gas stations around the country.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 2026
It was Brown, a Rhode Island blue blood whose name now adorns an Ivy League university, who in 1790 financed Slater’s stolen ideas for a state-of-the-art cotton mill.
From Barron's ● Jan. 28, 2026
It’s the hood ornament that adorns vehicles made by Peugeot, one of the oldest and largest of Europe’s carmakers.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
The former brilliantly evokes wistful teenage dreaming as a character walks through their high school, adorned by a yearning Caroline Polachek song and light-pink diary scribblings.
From Salon ● Oct. 29, 2026
Ian Fleming's flat at 22B Ebury Street in Belgravia is now adorned with a blue plaque commemorating his time there.
From BBC ● Oct. 24, 2026
An AFP photographer on Thursday saw that the diplomatic emblem and a plaque that adorned the consulate's facade had been removed.
From Barron's ● Oct. 8, 2026
Before entering a heavily gilded Oval Office, Trump walked Xi along a renovated colonnade now adorned with gold-framed portraits of U.S. presidents.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 25, 2026
The younger white man with the red derby wore a necklace adorned with pieces of shriveled leather.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
But then he saw it: a limited edition, three-wheeled Street Glide with a trio of ghostly eagles adorning its obsidian paint job.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
We would be sipping ice-cold spritzes at cafés overlooking the Mediterranean, frolicking down cobblestone streets lined with charming boutiques, and marveling at the frescoes and marble sculptures adorning grand cathedrals.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
Although I saw mostly Reform UK and Burnham signs and posters adorning the streets I walked, other parties are vying for votes as well.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026
An attempt to impress the Chairwoman by adorning a space at the club in colonial chic backfires.
From Salon ● Apr. 23, 2026
There are countless tattoos, and yet they meld and flow into one design gracefully adorning her like an elegant, unusual piece of jewelry.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
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