ornament
Americannoun
-
ornaments
plural
-
an accessory, article, or detail used to beautify the appearance of something to which it is added or of which it is a part.
architectural ornaments.
- Synonyms:
- embellishment
-
a system, category, or style of such objects or features; ornamentation.
a book on Gothic ornament.
-
any adornment or means of adornment.
- Synonyms:
- decoration
-
a person or thing that adds to the credit or glory of a society, era, etc.
-
the act of adorning.
- Synonyms:
- decoration
-
the state of being adorned.
-
mere outward display.
a speech more of ornament than of ideas.
-
Chiefly Ecclesiastical. any accessory, adjunct, or equipment.
-
Music. a tone or group of tones applied as decoration to a principal melodic tone.
verb (used with object)
-
ornaments,
present (3rd person singular)
-
ornamented,
past participle, past
-
ornamenting
present participle
noun
-
anything that enhances the appearance of a person or thing
-
decorations collectively
she was totally without ornament
-
a small decorative object
-
something regarded as a source of pride or beauty
-
music any of several decorations, such as the trill, mordent, etc, occurring chiefly as improvised embellishments in baroque music
verb
-
to decorate with or as if with ornaments
-
to serve as an ornament to
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
ornamentationnoun
-
ornamenternoun
-
superornamentnoun
-
overornamentverb (used with object)
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reornamentverb (used with object)
-
superornamentverb (used with object)
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
ornamentsimple
-
ornamentssimple
-
have ornamentedperfect
-
has ornamentedperfect
-
am ornamentingprogressive
-
are ornamentingprogressive
-
is ornamentingprogressive
-
have been ornamentingperfect progressive
-
has been ornamentingperfect progressive
Past
-
ornamentedsimple
-
had ornamentedperfect
-
was ornamentingprogressive
-
were ornamentingprogressive
-
had been ornamentingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of ornament
1175–1225; < Latin ornāmentum equipment, ornament, equivalent to ornā ( re ) to equip + -mentum -ment; replacing Middle English ornement < Old French < Latin, as above
Explanation
An ornament is a decoration. You can also ornament something by making it more beautiful or festive. The most common use of ornament is probably in Christmas ornaments, which decorate a tree. Similarly, any ornament makes something prettier, flashier, or more festive. When you ornament something, you're beautifying, embellishing, or adorning it. Women ornament themselves with makeup. Men ornament themselves with face paint at football games. People ornament their offices with pictures of their families. Different cultures have their own ways of ornamenting themselves and their homes. If something looks boring, why not ornament it?
Vocabulary lists containing ornament
"Macbeth": Act 1 Scene 7
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This Week in Words: Current Events Vocab for November 26–December 2, 2022
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Unit 4, Whole-Class Learning
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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:
A rare marble sculpture could fetch up to £18,000 at auction after it spent more than seven decades sitting outside, mistaken for a garden ornament.
From BBC ● Sep. 15, 2026
"The foldable risks becoming a premium-priced ornament in the portfolio, imparting badge value but not meaningful growth," said Dipanjan Chatterjee, an analyst at Forrester.
From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026
The only ornament on it “was the Nixon Inaugural Medal,” Colson giddily reported in a White House memo.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 4, 2026
LeBron James is now a fancy hood ornament on a broken-down jalopy.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 16, 2026
That, and his hound's-head helm, were his only concession to ornament.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Saleh sometimes leads painting workshops where participants can decorate items like ornaments and lampshades.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
Legions of travelers take joy in collecting everything from magnets to shot glasses to ornaments to remember their trips.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026
Mostly cheap, guilty pleasures, from coasters to Christmas ornaments to, yes, shelves of Starbucks mugs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 1, 2026
Alison Fure, 68, is petitioning Kingston Council to begin phasing out plastic decorative items, including ornaments, flowers, and windmills, on graves.
From BBC ● Jun. 7, 2026
The woman’s hair was tangled in hairpins which had been pulled loose and hung around her head like ornaments.
From "Ceremony:" by Leslie Marmon Silko
The chapel’s four dissimilar facades—essentially interconnected white surfaces, ornamented and perforated with markedly different patterns of windows and doorways—are topped with a gray, curvaceous concrete roof.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 6, 2026
The title track opens the bilingual album, launching with RM repeating the album’s title over and over again in a deep, almost militaristic cadence — before exploding into asymmetrical production ornamented by his gothic baritone.
From Seattle Times ● May 24, 2024
The credit as L.A.’s first known muralist goes to Einar Petersen, who ornamented mostly inside walls with historic, storytelling murals ordered up and paid for.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 12, 2024
Crowds of 20-somethings spilled out of the homey restaurant in Manhattan’s Koreatown, where steam billowed from stone bowls of soondubu jigae in a dining room ornamented with paper lanterns and musical instruments.
From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2024
Of that lean and terrible red ship he saw no sign, but his father's Great Kraken was there, her bow ornamented with a grey iron ram in the shape of its namesake.
From "A Clash of Kings" by George R.R. Martin
The mezzo-soprano Hannah Ludwig, as Rosina, went perhaps a step too far in ornamenting her defining aria, “Una voce poco fa.”
From New York Times ● Jul. 28, 2021
When ornamenting the glass after the beverage is assembled, Thomas wrote, “It is necessary to display some taste.”
From The New Yorker ● Sep. 2, 2016
I wandered in behind a truck spraying water to suppress the dust and soon encountered Jim Holbrook, 65, who was ornamenting his English bulldog with sunglasses and a tiara of devil’s horns.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 30, 2015
Borders can be used in other unexpected ways, too, from edging flat picture frames and ornamenting mats to trimming stair treads and pelmets.
From Architectural Digest ● Aug. 8, 2014
Otto reproduced a number of the tattoos ornamenting the subject’s overmuscled chest, arms, and small and calloused but girlish hands.
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.
