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
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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:
It’s just another way I can adorn myself with color.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
His signature will soon adorn our paper currency — a presidential first — and his face will appear on coins.
From Salon ● Aug. 28, 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
“That picture was made, not to conceal, or destroy the apple; but to adorn, and preserve it. The picture was made for the apple—not the apple for the picture.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026
Bowls full of side dishes adorn the table: okra, sweet potatoes, corn on the cob, greens, homemade bread.
From "X: A Novel" by Ilyasah Shabazz
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
Behind the graceful figure that adorns one of New York City’s cherished spaces was an artist devoted to her work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Its red bull’s-eye symbol adorns Target Field, the Target Center arena and the downtown Target Plaza complex that houses the retailer’s headquarters.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 13, 2026
A fig tree adorns the ceiling in the hallway and birds fly up the stairs along the walls.
From BBC ● Dec. 5, 2025
Small red and yellow flowers and a trail of ivy spill out of the basket beneath them, and a tiny model of the medicine wheel on a spike adorns the center of the arrangement.
From "Red Flags and Butterflies" by Sheryl Azzam
On the ceiling, a base of sage green is adorned with small stars.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026
It portrays the young woman in a white gown, seated on a sofa inside a room with red walls adorned with paintings.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026
Joint lead bookrunner and stabilization agent Morgan Stanley adorned its lobbies, elevator banks and turnstiles with SpaceX logos and pictures of Mars.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 31, 2026
His and Lissie's wedding pictures adorned the front pages, police forces and football clubs held minutes' silences and blue ribbons were displayed in his hometown of Wallingford.
From BBC ● Aug. 8, 2026
It is extremely colorful, with both the house and the partygoers adorned in a rainbow of shades.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
It’s not necessarily a perspective one expects to be accompanied by the kind of scorching guitar riffs adorning “Date Night.”
From Salon ● Sep. 22, 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
There are no betting odds adorning the scrolling scoreboard.
From Slate ● Jun. 10, 2026
The vast glass-domed exhibition space became a wonderland, with pink weeping willows and oversized toadstools adorning the runway.
From BBC ● Jan. 29, 2026
The immense war helmet he wore had the plumes of a blackbird and the horns of a stag beetle adorning it.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
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.
