festoon
Americannoun
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a string or chain of flowers, foliage, ribbon, etc., suspended in a curve between two points.
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a decorative representation of this, as in architectural work or on pottery.
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a fabric suspended, draped, and bound at intervals to form graceful loops or scalloped folds.
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Dentistry. the garlandlike area of the gums surrounding the necks of the teeth.
verb (used with object)
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to adorn with or as with festoons.
to festoon a hall.
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to form into festoons.
to festoon flowers and leaves.
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Dentistry. to reproduce natural gum patterns around the teeth or a denture.
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to connect by festoons.
noun
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a decorative chain of flowers, ribbons, etc, suspended in loops; garland
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a carved or painted representation of this, as in architecture, furniture, or pottery
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the scalloped appearance of the gums where they meet the teeth
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a design carved on the base material of a denture to simulate this
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either of two Zerynthia species of white pierid butterfly of southern Europe, typically mottled red, yellow, and brown
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an ochreous brown moth, Apoda avellana the unusual sluglike larvae of which feed on oak leaves
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verb
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to decorate or join together with festoons
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to form into festoons
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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festoonsimple
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festoonssimple
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have festoonedperfect
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has festoonedperfect
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am festooningprogressive
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are festooningprogressive
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is festooningprogressive
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have been festooningperfect progressive
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has been festooningperfect progressive
Past
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festoonedsimple
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had festoonedperfect
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was festooningprogressive
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were festooningprogressive
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had been festooningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of festoon
1670–80; < French feston < Italian festone decoration for a feast, derivative of festa festa
Explanation
A festoon is a decorative string of flowers that you drape across a room, dropping in curves between support points. If you're decorating for Halloween, why not try a creatively spooky festoon of dried roses covered in cobwebs? Festoon probably comes from the Italian word festone, for "feast," and if you can imagine an Italian courtyard strung up with flowers and lanterns, then you have a sense of what it means to festoon a place. A noun or a verb, festoon can mean the decoration itself, or the work of putting it up. Festoons don't strictly have to be made of flowers, though they usually are. You can festoon with fabric too, or paper chains. Or cobwebs.
Vocabulary lists containing festoon
The Fault in Our Stars
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Mardi Gras: Fun
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A Long Way Gone
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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:
“It affects us all,” said Hussein, 22, who lives and works near Sparkhill, a largely Muslim neighborhood in Birmingham, where Palestinian flags flutter above shops and festoon a nearby park.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 7, 2026
Filaments of dust and gas festoon this star-forming region in a new infrared image from MIRI.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 11, 2023
Here, millions of butterflies festoon the trees in shuddering layers so thick it’s impossible to see the foliage beneath.
From Slate ● Oct. 11, 2022
And by plant, I mean play, adorn and festoon the landscape with seasonal compositions that echo colorful detailing on the house.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 27, 2021
We eat our lunches in the chilly dimly lit cellar of the school- house, where we sit in supervised rows on long scarred wooden benches under a festoon of heating pipes.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
Since early Thursday, BNP backers started gathering in the capital, plastering the streets with banners and festoons bearing images of Rahman.
From Barron's ● Dec. 25, 2025
In the Quartieri Spagnoli, throughout Naples' historic centre, up to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona in Fuorigrotta and beyond, the streets are decked with blue and white festoons.
From BBC ● Apr. 6, 2023
AA memorabilia festoons the largest meeting room in Wilson House, a hotel built in the mid-1800s.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 11, 2020
Best wallpaper: The glorious peacock pattern that festoons the walls of Amy Schumer’s character’s apartment in “I Feel Pretty.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 2, 2019
It was made of granite for strength and massiveness, but like so many other things in Iofur’s palace, it was decorated with overelaborate swags and festoons of gilt that looked like tinsel on a mountainside.
From "The Golden Compass" by Philip Pullman
In Havana's leafy middle-class Vedado neighborhood, pints at a dollar a pop were flowing at a watch party in a cultural center festooned with a Brazil flag and World Cup bunting.
From Barron's ● Jun. 14, 2026
A block later I hobbled past the Justice Department, its facade festooned with a giant banner of Trump’s face.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
The first, which he began making in the early 1960s, were mysterious, sinisterly bejeweled boxes, little containers of compressed surrealism festooned with hundreds of shiny straight pins.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 25, 2026
One is festooned in SpongeBob memorabilia; another contains the rack on which a girl would arrange her outfits for the week.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 23, 2026
Over our chesterfield there’s a badminton net, festooned across the wall.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The hallmarks of a state dinner were there: lavish floral displays festooning the White House, the first lady arriving in a floor-length sequined gown, and members of Congress and cabinet secretaries mingling with attendees.
From New York Times ● May 2, 2024
Now his great-granddaughter is cultivating seed there, and not just from the Clematis that scramble over shrubs, festooning their branches with colorful little bells and stars and, later, the froth of all those seed heads.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 21, 2024
The next morning, through their telephoto lenses and binoculars, the media could see green-and-white floral garlands festooning the South Portico, and — hmm, let’s squint a little harder — is that two officiants?
From Washington Post ● Nov. 20, 2022
In two caves, researchers previously documented tens of thousands of bat bones festooning the floors and walls.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 31, 2017
A half mile away, she saw the paper festooning the trees and bushes in front of Finn’s house.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
