decorative en · ADJ
Pronunciation
- /ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.tɪv/ (General-American)
- /ˈdɛk.ɹə.tɪv/ (General-American)
- /ˈdɛk.ɹə.tɪv/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- [ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.ɾɪv] (General-American)
- /ˈdɛk.ə.ɹə.tɪv/ (Received-Pronunciation)
- (Southern-England) audio
- [ˈdɛk.ɹə.ɾɪv] (General-American)
- /ˈdek.ə.ɹə.tɪv/ (Australia)
Etymology
From Latin decorātus + -ive. Cognate with French décoratif.
Meanings
-
That serves to decorate
Decorative embellishments give the home an elegant touch.
And I’ll be honest. I’ll be honest, seeing stories like that is enough to make me glad that the Queen of England is mostly decorative now. In fact, the most relevant thing she’s done recently was announced that this week, she’s going to visit the Game of Thrones set.
2014, Tim Carvell [et al.], “Dr. Oz and Nutritional Supplements”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 8, John Oliver (actor), Warner Bros. Television, via HBO:The parsnip, stilton and chestnut combination may taste good, but it's not terribly decorative. In fact, dull's the word, a lingering adjectival ghost of nut roasts past that I'm keen to banish from the table.
2011 December 15, Felicity Cloake, “How to cook the perfect nut roast”, in Guardian: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 schemes; and the original conception was lost.
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.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| most decorative | Degree=Sup | lexicographic | |
| more decorative | Degree=Cmp | lexicographic |
Antonyms
Deriveds
decoratively · undecorative · decorative arts · overdecorative · nondecorative · decorativeness
Synonyms
Translations (38)
tr tezyinî (that serves to decorate) · nb dekorativ (that serves to decorate) · el διακοσμητικός (that serves to decorate) · pl dekoracyjny (that serves to decorate) · fur decoratîf (that serves to decorate) · cs dekorační (that serves to decorate) · es decorativo (that serves to decorate) · pl dekoratywny (that serves to decorate) · da dekorativ (that serves to decorate) · ml അലങ്കാര (that serves to decorate) · cs okrasný (that serves to decorate) · cs zdobný (that serves to decorate) · fr décoratif (that serves to decorate) · cmn 裝飾的 /装饰的 (that serves to decorate) · eo dekoracia (that serves to decorate) · tr dekoratif (that serves to decorate) · ru декорати́вный (that serves to decorate) · cs ozdobný (that serves to decorate) · it decorativo (that serves to decorate) · sv dekorativ (that serves to decorate) · hu dekoratív (that serves to decorate) · bg декоративен (that serves to decorate) · pt decorativo (that serves to decorate) · pl ozdobny (that serves to decorate) · ga maisiúil (that serves to decorate) · cs dekorativní (that serves to decorate) · ro decorativ (that serves to decorate) · fi koriste- (that serves to decorate) · ga maiseach (that serves to decorate) · fi koristeellinen (that serves to decorate) · gl decorativo (that serves to decorate) · nl decoratief (that serves to decorate) · fa تزیینی (that serves to decorate) · ca decoratiu (that serves to decorate) · nn dekorativ (that serves to decorate) · oc decoratiu (that serves to decorate) · de dekorativ (that serves to decorate) · ko 장식용 (that serves to decorate)