fete

1 of 2

noun

ˈfāt  ˈfet 

variants or fête

1

: festival

Class Day, the great fete of the year

—Catherine D. Bowen

2

a

: a lavish often outdoor entertainment

a fete in the park with music and performances

b

: a large elaborate party

a fete to celebrate the museum's centennial

fete

2 of 2

verb

variants or fête

feted or fêted; feting or fêting

transitive verb

1

: to honor or commemorate with a fete

2

: to pay high honor to

Did you know?

Fete is a word worth celebrating. It's been around since Middle English, when it was used in a manuscript to refer to "fetes, spectacles and other worldly vanytees." Since the 19th century, fete has been doing double duty, also serving as a verb meaning "to honor or commemorate with a fete." You can honor fete by remembering that it entered English from Middle French, and that it derives ultimately from the Old French feste, meaning "festival"—a root that, not surprisingly, also gave English the word feast. Because of its French ties, you will sometimes see fete spelled with a circumflex above the first e (fête), as that's how it appears in that language.

Synonyms

Noun

• reception
• event
• party
• celebration
• affair
• dance
• do
• shindig

Verb

• honor

Examples of fete in a Sentence

Noun

won a prize at the church fete

the heiress wanted to do something with her life other than shuttle from fete to fete

Verb

They feted the winning team with banquets and parades.

the returning servicemen and servicewomen were feted with a week's worth of celebrations

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Two-time Oscar winner Kevin Spacey was in attendance last night in the back of the tent, continuing his comeback tour in Cannes after delivering a spirited speech against blacklisting during his fete at the Better World Gala. —Anthony D'alessandro, Deadline, 23 May 2025

Comments Tuesday’s awards fete raised $65,014 for the nonprofit San Diego Music Foundation, under whose auspices the awards are presented. —George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 29 Apr. 2025

Verb

Palmer will be feted with the ACM’s lift every voice award, which is presented to a country music artist, duo/group, industry leader or affiliate/partner who elevates underrepresented voices in the country music genre. —Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 9 July 2025

Waning global attention For years, governments across the world have feted the Dalai Lama for advocating for Tibetan rights and spreading a message of nonviolence. —Sheikh Saaliq, Los Angeles Times, 3 July 2025

Word History

Etymology

Noun and Verb

Middle English fete, from Middle French, from Old French feste — more at feast

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1814, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for fete

• ate
• bait
• bate
• cate
• crate
• date
• eight
• fait
• fate
• frate
• freight
• gait

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Kids Definition

fete

1 of 2 noun

variants or fête

ˈfāt 

1

: festival sense 1

2

: a fancy entertainment or party

fete

2 of 2 verb

variants or fête

feted or fêted; feting or fêting

1

: to honor with a fete

2

: to pay high honor to