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:
Customers are paying them hundreds—sometimes thousands—of dollars to festoon their homes with gourds of every shape and size.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 26, 2025
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
On Sado Island itself, where banners and posters celebrating the World Heritage nomination festoon warehouses and shop windows, residents say any debate about Korean laborers is beside the point.
From New York Times ● Feb. 21, 2022
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
Home Minister Salahuddin Ahmed announced cuts to the decorative lighting that usually festoons government buildings, for both Independence Day on March 26 and Eid.
From Barron's ● Mar. 9, 2026
Then, Olafsson blazed into the sequence that climaxes with the celebratory festoons of the 30th and final variation, the Quodlibet, which joyously weaves together strains of melody.
From New York Times ● Feb. 8, 2024
With its tall ceiling, round arches, chandeliers and decorated friezes, plus its famed white glazed terra-cotta facade adorned with festoons, cornices and Corinthian keystones, the building certainly has the pomp of a grand museum.
From Seattle Times ● Mar. 21, 2023
AA memorabilia festoons the largest meeting room in Wilson House, a hotel built in the mid-1800s.
From Washington Times ● Oct. 11, 2020
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
Smith makes treats like Skittles, gummy bears and pasta festooned with marigold petals, narrating each step in a baby-soft voice while wearing dreamy fits.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2026
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
Jason Ardizzone West’s abstract set is a construction of curving ramps, accommodating much of the big chorus and festooned with night lights; a large disc hangs above a center platform, occasionally tilting and dipping.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 24, 2026
The lofty Hall of Ancestors was festooned with holiday banners and graced with clansmen from near and far.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
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
Here it is 2021, and NBC Universal’s plan for survival in the streaming age now relies on Peacock, one of the new services festooning your TV app screen like medals on a dictator’s uniform.
From New York Times ● May 5, 2021
This time around, many of the arrangements feel more fully baked into the songwriting, as opposed to festooning synths to straight-ahead guitar rockers.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2020
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.
