adornment
Americannoun
-
something that adds attractiveness; ornament; accessory.
the adornments and furnishings of a room.
-
ornamentation; embellishment.
personal adornment.
Other Word Forms
- nonadornment noun
- preadornment noun
- readornment noun
- self-adornment noun
- superadornment noun
- unadornment noun
Etymology
Origin of adornment
1470–80; adorn + -ment; replacing late Middle English aournement < Middle French
Explanation
An adornment is some ornament or accent that makes a person or thing look more attractive. You might check out your hair in the mirror before a party and decide it needs an adornment — a hat or a glittery barrette. Tinsel draped on a Christmas tree is an adornment, and so are the fuzzy dice hanging on your car's rear view mirror. Lipstick is an adornment, and so is a polka dotted bow tie, since they both dress a person up a little bit. Another way to use adornment is to mean the act or process of decorating: "The adornment of the high school gym had transformed it into a winter wonderland." The Latin root is adornare, "equip or embellish."
Vocabulary lists containing adornment
"The Gift of the Magi"
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"When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom’d" by Walt Whitman
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The Witch of Blackbird Pond
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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.
Canaanland is named for the promised land; its Faith Tabernacle can, and often does, hold 50,000 people in a building that resembles an aircraft hangar, its “almost sterile interior” suggesting that “hope is adornment enough.”
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 19, 2025
A moment where Ruth sees a woman wearing a potato chip clip as a hair adornment captures that atmosphere.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 25, 2025
“For example, the Targaryen look, it’s sort of brutalist in style, in terms of its adornment and embroidery, it’s more abstract, whereas the folks at Kings Landing are more naturalistic.”
From BBC • Aug. 3, 2024
Historically, The Family has successfully veiled its involvement in the breakfast, cloaking it in as much government adornment as possible.
From Salon • Feb. 1, 2024
Kit curtsied, noting with satisfaction that this was one woman who did not despise vain adornment.
From "The Witch of Blackbird Pond" by Elizabeth George Speare
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.
