The difference between Adorn and Decorate

When used as verbs, adorn means to make more beautiful and attractive, whereas decorate means to furnish with decorations.


Adorn is also noun with the meaning: adornment.

Adorn is also adjective with the meaning: adorned.

check bellow for the other definitions of Adorn and Decorate

  1. Adorn as a verb:

    To make more beautiful and attractive; to decorate.

    Examples:

    "a man adorned with noble statuary and columns"

    "a character adorned with every Christian grace"

    "a gallery of paintings was adorned with the works of some of the great masters"

  1. Adorn as a noun (obsolete):

    adornment

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Edmund Spenser"

  1. Adorn as an adjective (obsolete):

    adorned; ornate

    Examples:

    "rfquotek Milton"

  1. Decorate as a verb (transitive):

    To furnish with decorations.

    Examples:

    "We decorated the Christmas tree with tinsel and baubles."

  2. Decorate as a verb (transitive):

    To improve the appearance of an interior of, as a house, room, or office.

    Examples:

    "There's some paint left over from when we decorated the guest bedroom."

  3. Decorate as a verb (intransitive):

    To decorate an interior space, as a house, room, or office.

    Examples:

    "People tend to decorate for the holidays or special events."

  4. Decorate as a verb (transitive):

    To honor by providing a medal, ribbon, or other adornment.

    Examples:

    "He was a decorated soldier who served in three wars."

  5. Decorate as a verb (programming, transitive):

    To extend a method, etc. by attaching some further code item.

    Examples:

    "It makes sure that the field name argument is not empty, and that the field specified there is an actual existing field in the class which declares the method decorated with this attribute."

Compare words: