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.
In peak summer, my oven is largely decorative.
From Salon ● Jul. 21, 2026
A flamingo windchime and a decorative piece of art from Guadalajara, Mexico hang in front of the entrance of the home of Flamingo Garden Mobile Home Park resident Mariano Silverio Mendoza in Carson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 17, 2026
It features “a brass barrel and decorative lockplate, with an additional flourish of silver-wire inlay in a shell pattern.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 25, 2026
Mola said its project at Stanton Cross had uncovered "a series of historical insights", including intricate decorative pottery.
From BBC ● Jun. 9, 2026
The house—for the most part designed by Mr. Clutter, who thereby proved himself a sensible and sedate, if not notably decorative, architect—had been built in 1948 for forty thousand dollars.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
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.
