adorn

verb

ə-ˈdȯrn 

adorned; adorning; adorns

transitive verb

1

: to enhance the appearance of especially with beautiful objects

adorned the wall with her paintings

2

: to enliven or decorate as if with ornaments

people of fashion who adorned the Court

Synonyms of adorn

• decorate

Choose the Right Synonym for adorn

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 adorn in a Sentence

Her paintings adorn the walls.

the Sultan's tent was richly adorned with thick tapestries and gleaming gold candlesticks

Recent Examples on the Web

All but one is adorned with the classic blue stripe livery that has been associated with most of NASA’s aircraft over the past five decades. — Robert Pearlman, ArsTechnica, 27 Aug. 2026

Twenty-five miles southwest of Madison, chalet-style restaurants and shops adorned with flower boxes line First Street. — Taryn Shorr-McKee, Midwest Living, 26 Aug. 2026

The shoes were dramatic as well, a stiletto sandal adorned with voluminous tulle — this was a Valentino collaboration with Philip Treacy from spring 2010. — Jaden Thompson, Footwear News, 25 Aug. 2026

Each room is flooded with amber Southwestern light, framed by chunky wooden beams, and the massive beds are adorned with local textiles. — Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 24 Aug. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Middle English aournen, adournen, borrowed from Anglo-French aurner, adourner (with d restored from Latin), going back to Latin adōrnāre "to get ready, prepare, decorate, embellish," from ad- ad- + ōrnāre "to prepare, equip, embellish" — more at ornate

First Known Use

14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for adorn

• airborne
• blackthorn
• broomcorn
• buckhorn
• buckthorn
• careworn
• firstborn
• foodborne
• forborne
• forewarn
• forlorn
• forsworn

Kids Definition

adorn

verb

ə-ˈdȯrn 

: to enhance the appearance of with ornaments