decorate
Americanverb (used with object)
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decorates,
present (3rd person singular)
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decorated,
past participle, past
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decorating
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decoratesimple
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decoratessimple
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have decoratedperfect
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has decoratedperfect
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am decoratingprogressive
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are decoratingprogressive
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is decoratingprogressive
-
have been decoratingperfect progressive
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has been decoratingperfect progressive
Past
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decoratedsimple
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had decoratedperfect
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was decoratingprogressive
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were decoratingprogressive
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had been decoratingperfect progressive
Future
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 ( see decent) + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
Putting up paintings, stringing up lights, and getting some flowers are all ways to decorate a house. When you decorate, you make things look better or at least more interesting. Even an attractively furnished home can be decorated for a holiday or party. That means you dress up your house to celebrate the special occasion. Decorate is also used to describe certain kinds of success. A famous athlete might decorate a gym with trophies and championship rings. We say a person in the military, like a general, is decorated when he or she is given medals for bravery or other accomplishments.
Vocabulary lists containing decorate
Easter Vocabulary
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Lesson 3
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"Making Faces"
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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:
While the area may not have been his favorite, the Brolins certainly made the home their own, tapping celebrated interior design studio, Pierce and Ward, to decorate it with a traditional, baronial aesthetic.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 7, 2026
Signs in English, Mandarin, Spanish and Vietnamese decorate the classroom, reflecting the most common languages students speak.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 24, 2026
All that’s missing is a Luther Vandross song to decorate the mood with romance.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
This year there was no baton relay across the Commonwealth but each of the 74 nations and territories was given a wooden baton to decorate.
From BBC ● Jul. 23, 2026
Moving day has turned into a party, with uncles carrying in boxes, aunties in the kitchen stocking cupboards, and Mom excited and ready to decorate.
From "The House That Lou Built" by Mae Respicio
Most notably, the display of military trophies that decorates the back wall was entirely Trumbull’s own embellishment, as he himself said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 4, 2026
Rather, she takes a plain white bag and decorates it to the max — an “Easter basket of sorts,” as she describes the final product.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 2, 2026
But the epiphanic ding! hits her as she’s smoothing a Band-Aid onto her forehead wound, and considers the superhero that decorates it: the Incredible Hulk.
From Salon ● Aug. 19, 2024
Take Saskia, from Bempton Grove in Hull, who - along with her two siblings - decorates their house inside and out on 1 November each year.
From BBC ● Dec. 3, 2023
Father takes a fingerful of blue icing and decorates Jenna’s nose, and she squeals.
From "The Adoration of Jenna Fox" by Mary E. Pearson
Trucks bearing the nations' flags began moving in both directions late morning, AFP reporters at the scene said, some of the North Korean vehicles decorated with flowers.
From Barron's ● Oct. 15, 2026
For Geva Mentor - England netball's most decorated player - this was the reality of going through the process of having her eggs frozen in 2019.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026
“The data is there,” said Pan, speaking before a banner decorated with purple butterflies and the proclamation, “Black Mothers Matter.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 11, 2026
The space around him was decorated with the new car’s design elements, including samples of brass-effect anodized aluminum and “the impossible panel”—an aluminum body side shaped into five different planes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
She had decorated it with black-and-red designs from crushed berries.
From "A Girl Named Disaster" by Nancy Farmer
While most of their peers are still decorating their dorm rooms, hard-charging undergrads are vying for these coveted seats.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
Also offered: a straw maze, pumpkin decorating, a petting zoo, giant rocking horses, slides and more.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2026
The painting and decorating business owner said he "didn't think there were people like that in the world today".
From BBC ● Jun. 19, 2026
The pregnancy had been far enough along to start getting their 4-year-old daughter excited about decorating a nursery, family-of-four camping trips and what it would mean to become a big sister.
From Salon ● May 27, 2026
They thanked her, then set about decorating the sukkah further, between helping Mama and Babulya bring bowls and lanterns and pillows to sit on out to the sukkah.
From Anya and the Nightingale by Sofiya Pasternack
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
