adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of decorative
Explanation
Things that are decorative have no purpose except to look pretty. Blueberry bushes produce fruit that humans and birds can eat, while boxwood shrubs are purely decorative. The fake buttons on your winter coat are just decorative — then again, your high heeled shoes are more decorative than useful, and your jewelry and makeup is also decorative. The knickknacks on your mantel, the wreath on your front door, and the creepy doll collection in your living room are all decorative as well. These things dress up or ornament your home, and decorative comes from the Latin root decorare, "to decorate, adorn, or beautify."
Vocabulary lists containing decorative
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.
These repeating bulges are not simply decorative details.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 17, 2026
At the scene of the second strike, an AFP correspondent saw the ruins of a devastated villa, with large decorative columns laying on their side next to stairs littered with rubble.
From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026
In 1969, the Calouste Gulbenkian Museum opened here, a long, low modernist building in a woodland park, housing a stellar collection of antiquities, and Islamic, Asian and European paintings, sculpture and decorative arts.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
His attorneys said the blast melted decorative lighting on his balcony, charred the railing and melted sections of artificial turf.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026
Devoid of the three-inch decorative nails, her fingers appear almost stubby, and they can’t stop trembling.
From "Mockingjay" by Suzanne Collins
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.
