ornament

1 of 2

noun

or·​na·​ment ˈȯr-nə-mənt 

plural ornaments

1

archaic : a useful accessory

2

a

: something that lends grace, beauty, or festivity

holiday ornaments

b

: a manner or quality that adorns

3

: one whose virtues or graces add luster to a place or society

4

: the act of adorning or being adorned

5

: an embellishing note not belonging to the essential harmony or melody

called also embellishment, fioritura

ornament

2 of 2

verb

or·​na·​ment ˈȯr-nə-ˌment 

ornamented; ornamenting; ornaments

transitive verb

: to provide with ornament : embellish

Synonyms

Noun

• adornment
• beautifier
• caparison
• decoration
• doodad
• embellisher
• embellishment
• frill
• garnish
• garnishment
• garniture
• ornamentation
• setoff
• trim

Verb

• adorn
• array
• beautify
• bedeck
• bedizen
• blazon
• caparison
• deck
• decorate
• do
• do up
• doll up
• drape
• dress
• embellish
• emblaze
• emboss
• enrich
• fancify
• fancy up
• festoon
• garnish
• glitz (up)
• grace
• gussy up
• pretty (up)
• trim

Choose the Right Synonym for ornament

adorn, decorate, ornament, embellish, beautify, deck, garnish mean to enhance the appearance of something by adding something unessential.

adorn implies an enhancing by something beautiful in itself.

a diamond necklace adorned her neck

decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.

decorate a birthday cake

ornament and embellish imply the adding of something extraneous, ornament stressing the heightening or setting off of the original

a white house ornamented with green shutters

, embellish often stressing the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.

embellish a page with floral borders

beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.

will beautify the grounds with flower beds

deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.

a house all decked out for Christmas

garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.

an entrée garnished with parsley

Examples of ornament in a Sentence

Noun

She wore a hair ornament.

The columns are there purely as ornament—they have no structural function.

Verb

flower patterns used to ornament boxes

delicate crystal figurines ornament the mantel over the fireplace

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

But every grandchild has an ornament of some sort on that tree. —Hannah Sacks, People.com, 20 Nov. 2024

Try your hand at a pirouette on the ice rink followed by a stroll around the wooden huts hawking everything from ornaments and crafts to Norwegian treats like gløgg, the Scandinavian version of mulled wine. —Nicole Kliest, Vogue, 20 Nov. 2024

Verb

The spacious rooms and suites themselves are ornamented with gold and silver leaf and Venetian glass accents and are appointed with furniture from the ateliers of Italy, cared for by an in-house curator. —Robb Report Studio, Robb Report, 22 Nov. 2024

The show begins with an extensive selection of luxury astrolabes, a technical instrument of engraved and ornamented metal plates and dials used for timekeeping, astronomy and navigation. —Christopher Knight, Los Angeles Times, 22 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English, from Anglo-French urnement, ornement, from Latin ornamentum, from ornare

First Known Use

Noun

13th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Verb

1650, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing ornament

• Christmas ornament
• hood ornament

Kids Definition

ornament

1 of 2 noun

or·​na·​ment ˈȯr-nə-mənt 

1

: something that adds beauty : decoration

2

: addition of something that beautifies

a satin bow applied for ornament

ornament

2 of 2 verb

or·​na·​ment ˈȯr-nə-ˌment 

: to provide with ornament : adorn

ornamentation

ˌȯr-nə-mən-ˈtā-shən

-ˌmen-

noun