decorative
/ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.tɪv/US/ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.tɪv/
decorative adjective: that serves to decorate.
Adjective
decorative (comparative more decorative, superlative most decorative)
- That serves to decorate
- Decorative embellishments give the home an elegant touch.
- Elegant brick and stone buildings, with iron and glass canopies and decorative wooden scalloping and fencing—all evidencing care on the part of the architect to produce a pleasing, well-planned building—were submerged beneath a profusion of ill-conceived additions and camouflaged by vulgar paint...1962 October, Brian Haresnape, “Focus on B.R. passenger stations”, in Modern Railways, pages 250–251
- That has no functional purpose.
- The phone on the film set doesn't work, it's purely decorative.
- Antonyms:
- utilitarian
Noun
decorative (plural decoratives)
- A plant, tile, etc. intended for use as decoration.
- Analysts said the company’s results were in line, but noted that organic growth at the decoratives business was slightly weaker than expected.2007 October 24, The Associated Press, “Dutch Maker of Chemicals Reports Drop in Earnings”, in New York Times
decorative meaning in Hindi, Marathi, Urdu and Bengali
decorative in Hindi
- decorative, ornamental
- सजावटी sajāvṭī
decorative in Marathi
- सजावटीचे, सजावटीची, सजावटीच्या
decorative in Urdu
- آرائشی
decorative in Bengali
- সম্মানচিহ্নসং্ক্রান্ত, সজ্জাসংক্রান্ত
More languagesFewer languages
- decorative in Malayalam
- അലങ്കാര alaṅkāra
- decorative in Kannada
- ಅಲಂಕಾರಿಕ
- decorative in Punjabi
- ਸਜਾਵਟੀ
- decorative in Gujarati
- શણગારાત્મક
- decorative in Odia
- ଆଲଂକାରିକ
- decorative in Sanskrit
- आलंकारिक ālaṃkārika
- decorative in Nepali
- सजावटी, डेकोरेटिभ
- decorative in Persian
- تزیینی tazyini
Examples of decorative in a sentence
- The parsnip, stilton and chestnut combination may taste good, but it's not terribly decorative.2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian:
- I’ll be honest, seeing stories like that is enough to make me glad that the Queen of England is mostly decorative now.2014, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplements”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 8, John Oliver...
Synonyms of decorative
Antonyms
Forms of decorative
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more decorative |
| superlative | most decorative |
| Noun | |
| plural | decoratives |
Origin of decorative
From Latin decorātus + -ive. Cognate with French décoratif.
Words formed from decorative
Questions about decorative
- What does decorative mean?
- Decorative means that serves to decorate.
- What is decorative in Hindi?
- Decorative in Hindi is सजावटी (sajāvṭī). See Decorative meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use decorative in a sentence?
- The parsnip, stilton and chestnut combination may taste good, but it's not terribly decorative.
- What part of speech is decorative?
- Decorative can be an adjective or a noun.
- How do you pronounce decorative?
- Decorative is pronounced /ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.tɪv/ (UK).
Words near decorative in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decorative (page history and authors); सजावटी (Hindi) (page history and authors); decorative (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); decorative (Urdu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); decorative (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decorative (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); decorative (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); decorative (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); decorative (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); आलंकारिक (Sanskrit) (page history and authors); decorative (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decorative.wav.
Cite this entry: “decorative.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decorative. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.