decorative

[dek-er-uh-tiv, dek-ruh-, dek-uh-rey-]

adjective

1. serving or tending to decorate.

2. Fine Arts.,  serving only to decorate, in contrast to providing a meaningful experience.

decorative

/ ˈdɛkrətɪv, ˈdɛkərətɪv /

adjective

1. serving to decorate or adorn; ornamental

Other Word Forms

• decoratively adverb
• decorativeness noun
• nondecorative adjective
• overdecorative adjective
• overdecoratively adverb
• overdecorativeness noun
• undecorative adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of decorative¹

First recorded in 1785–95; decorate + -ive

Example Sentences

All three sections brim with short essays on various plant species such as rose, clover, iris, violet, daisy and lily of the valley, which Dior fashioned into silhouettes and blossoming decorative surfaces.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

By 2011, the West African black rhino was officially declared extinct, thanks to poachers who mercilessly killed them for their horns—which people then use for decorative carvings and grind into powder for medicines.

Read more on Literature

Serif—a family of typeface known for small lines and decorative “wings”—has gone mainstream.

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A decorative plate stolen from a dining hall by a University of Cambridge student more than 100 years ago has finally been returned.

Read more on BBC

The rest of the home is already decked out for Thanksgiving with ceramic pumpkins and strings of orange and gold decorative foliage.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• fancy 
• ornamental