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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festoons,
present (3rd person singular)
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festooned,
past participle, past
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festooning
present participle
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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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-
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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:
If your social-worker friend envies your designer clothes, you don’t have to ditch your Prada for rags, but it’s probably better not to festoon your outfit with your biggest diamond.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
A UK-style red telephone booth sits on one corner, Norwegian flags festoon posts and staircases and a “Velkommen til Poulsbo!” mural and monstrous Viking invite day-trippers and weekend stays.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 28, 2024
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
Flags festoon the theater’s heights, the red-and-gold pennant of Gens Taia snapping in the wind beside the black, diamond-emblazoned standard of Blackcliff.
From "An Ember in the Ashes" by Sabaa Tahir
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
As the newlyweds proceed through a valley of thatched roofs, a Moctezuma impersonator festoons himself in palm leaves while acrobats brave the upside-down “palo volador” swing and dancers gyrate in riotous native dress.
From New York Times ● Oct. 27, 2022
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
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
Lisa Nandy, the Labour culture secretary, is speaking from her Wigan constituency which was proudly festooned with bunting during the late Queen's Platinum Jubilee in 2022.
From BBC ● Jun. 5, 2026
Streets were festooned with purple-and-blue "Welcome BTS & ARMY" signs, referring to the group's fandom.
From Barron's ● Mar. 20, 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 the samovar’s chimney, the waiter had draped a string festooned with bublitchki, small bagel-shaped rolls baked to a glossy sheen.
From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros
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
Those included festooning the mansion with flags from the University of Houston, rival of Rice University, where Youngkin played basketball.
From Washington Post ● Jan. 17, 2022
He now says that he always meant that steel and “see-through” materials could work, too, and has, from time to time, mused about festooning the wall with solar panels.
From New York Times ● Jan. 31, 2019
In two caves, researchers previously documented tens of thousands of bat bones festooning the floors and walls.
From Scientific American ● Aug. 31, 2017
As they approached, they could see tier upon tier of lights festooning the Mile-High Macllwaine.
From "The Ear, the Eye, and the Arm" by Nancy Farmer
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.
