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 of fete

Noun

• event
• party
• celebration
• bash
• reception
• 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

The event was born out of an inaugural summer fete known as the 2005 Intonation Music Festival, curated by Pitchfork Media. — Tess Kenny, Chicago Tribune, 10 July 2026

As far afield as Malaysia and Thailand, fans celebrated the singer’s big day with parties of their own – hosting bachelorette-style fetes in honor of Swift’s wedding. — Zoe Sottile, CNN Money, 4 July 2026

Verb

Also set to be feted during the August 21 Imagen Awards at the Beverly Hilton are Apple TV and the creators of its Acapulco, set for the Creative Achievement Award, and Los Angeles County Supervisor Hilda Solis, who’ll receive the President’s Award. — Erik Pedersen, Deadline, 16 July 2026

Efira will be feted by the Swiss fest, which is Europe’s preeminent event dedicated to indie cinema, with its Leopard Club Award. — Nick Vivarelli, Variety, 25 June 2026

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