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to make more attractive by adding something that is beautiful or becoming
- the Sultan's tent was richly adorned with thick tapestries and gleaming gold candlesticks
- 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,
- ornament,
- pretty (up),
- trim
- braid,
- embroider,
- feather,
- figure,
- filigree,
- fillet,
- flounce,
- frill,
- fringe,
- furbelow,
- garland,
- hang,
- lace,
- ribbon,
- swag,
- wreathe
Frequently Asked Questions About adorn
How is the word adorn different from other verbs like it?
Some common synonyms of adorn are beautify, deck, decorate, embellish, garnish, and ornament. While all these words 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
How do beautify and embellish relate to one another, in the sense of adorn?
Beautify adds to embellish a suggestion of counterbalancing plainness or ugliness.
will beautify the grounds with flower beds
In what contexts can deck take the place of adorn?
The synonyms deck and adorn are sometimes interchangeable, but deck implies the addition of something that contributes to gaiety, splendor, or showiness.
a house all decked out for Christmas
When is decorate a more appropriate choice than adorn?
Although the words decorate and adorn have much in common, decorate suggests relieving plainness or monotony by adding beauty of color or design.
decorate a birthday cake
Where would embellish be a reasonable alternative to adorn?
The words embellish and adorn are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, embellish often stresses the adding of superfluous or adventitious ornament.
embellish a page with floral borders
When is it sensible to use garnish instead of adorn?
While in some cases nearly identical to adorn, garnish suggests decorating with a small final touch and is used especially in referring to the serving of food.
an entrée garnished with parsley
How are the words ornament and embellish related as synonyms of adorn?
Both 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
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Time Traveler for adorn
The first known use of adorn was in the 14th century
See more words from the same century