Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To furnish, provide, or adorn with something ornamental; embellish.
- v. To confer a medal or other honor on: was decorated for bravery.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To distinguish; grace; honor.
- To deck with something becoming or ornamental; adorn; beautify; embellish: as, to decorate the person; to decorate an edifice.
- To confer distinction upon by means of a badge or medal of honor: as, to decorate an artist with the cross of the Legion of Honor. Synonyms Adorn, Ornament, Decorate, etc. (see
adorn ), bedizen, gild, trick out, emblazon.
Wiktionary
- v. transitive To furnish with decorations.
- v. transitive To improve the appearance of an interior of a house, room, office and so forth.
- v. computing (transitive) (In some programming languages) To extend a method, etc. by attaching some further code item.
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To deck with that which is becoming, ornamental, or honorary; to adorn; to beautify; to embellish
WordNet 3.0
- v. award a mark of honor, such as a medal, to
- v. make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.
- v. provide with decoration
- v. be beautiful to look at
Etymologies
- From Latin decoratus, past participle of decorare ("to adorn, distinguish, honor"), from decus ("ornament, grace, dignity, honor"), akin to decor ("elegance, grace, beauty, ornament"), from decet ("adorn, befit"). (Wiktionary)
- From Middle English decorat, made beautiful, from Latin decorātus, past participle of decorāre, to beautify, from decus, decor-, honor, ornament; see dek- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“The Putz -- a German word for "decorate" -- tells the story of the birth of Christ in a more elaborate way than the typical nativity scene.”
“The traditional way to decorate is to sprinkle powdered sugar on the top, with a cutout of a cross or a shell, to symbolize St. James, on top.”
“Man, now I want to redecorate the Civic also known as decorate it in the first place.”
“State puts a schoolmaster into a schoolhouse, without adequate payment for himself, without adequate provision either for building or the upkeep of building; it bids him to keep it clean, but pays no servant to wash or sweep; and, while enjoining the absence of dirt, it checks and hampers that desire to decorate, which is the positive side of order and taste.”
“Flowers, stars, and titles decorate our family's May altar.”
“For dining rooms, the easiest (and fastest) way to decorate is to get a set.”
“Williams High School students might "decorate" it as a graduation prank.”
The Washington Post: Three Eggs in Space: Public art that the public loves or loves to hate
“In our book we sing the praises of Anthropologie as THE place to go for a girl to 'decorate' herself and her home.”
The Huffington Post: Little House on the Prairie Meets (Fill in the Blank)
“Isn't God wonderful to equip little birds with the desire to "decorate" their nests?”
“The songs are used both to "decorate" the story and to advance its plot.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘decorate’.
-
Public List: Free Association
Read the top word on the list and add a word that you associate with it. The association may be semantic, etymological, structural, literary, personal, etc.
Rules:
1. In t...mounch, mensch, trench, war, harmony, guitar, cigar, bubblegum, baseball cards, shortstop, bear, chained and 72 more...
-
big book gre
abase, abbess, abbey, abbot, abdicate, abdomen, abdominal, abduction, abed, aberration, abet, abeyance and 6691 more...
-
Basic English Vocabulary
Very basic words for ESL students.
contemplate, container, consumer, consultant, consensus, conscious, conscience, connection, confusion, confront, conflict, confident and 4334 more...
-
mouserie's list
Words that I find are amazing
vicissitude, mouse, indubitably, epistolary, awesome, tipperary, shadow, grimoire, hippopotomonstros..., novel, satire, confessional and 91 more...
-
embellish
and embellishment and embellishing
trim, deck, dress, garnish, adorn, embroider, grace, decorate, aggrandize, dramatize, dramatise, pad and 64 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for decorate.
jennarenn I read all of my mother's decorator magazines throughout middle and high school. Chinoiserie was often used to describe antiques.
See skipvia's Free Association List. Feb 4, 2008