ornamental

[awr-nuh-men-tl]

adjective

1. used or grown for ornament.

   ornamental plants.

2. providing ornament, decorative.

3. of or relating to ornament.

noun

1. something ornamental; decoration; adornment.

2. a plant cultivated for decorative purposes.

ornamental

/ ˌɔːnəˈmɛntəl /

adjective

1. of value as an ornament; decorative

2. (of a plant) used to decorate houses, gardens, etc

noun

1. a plant cultivated for show or decoration

Other Word Forms

• ornamentally adverb
• ornamentality noun
• nonornamental adjective
• nonornamentally adverb
• nonornamentality noun
• overornamental adjective
• overornamentally adverb
• overornamentality noun
• preornamental adjective
• superornamental adjective
• superornamentally adverb
• unornamental adjective
• unornamentally adverb

Word History and Origins

Origin of ornamental¹

First recorded in 1640–50; ornament + -al ¹

Example Sentences

The set opened with a full run of “Seven Psalms,” a short yet profound song cycle in which a dense, ornamental acoustic guitar figure recurs over several songs in an intimate valediction.

From Los Angeles Times

After 400 of the ornamental carp were stolen from an office park outside Washington in 2013, the Washington Post noted that some collectors “will pay as much as $25,000 for a championship fish.”

From Los Angeles Times

The women who’ve long been expected to be ornamental — actresses, swimsuit models, even some athletes — are now building bodies that don’t just perform, but project power.

From Salon

We’ve seen this in some of our experimental work and in other studies that test the flammability of ornamental landscaping.

From Los Angeles Times

They pointed to the watering of purely ornamental grass in cities, as well as “inefficient industrial processes that use more water than needed due to outdated evaporative cooling systems.”

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• exquisite 
• ornate 
• showy