noun

• 1A thing which adorns or decorates; an ornament.

  ‘the necktie is no longer a necessary male adornment’

  More example sentences

  • ‘Around her throat a simple gold chain was her only adornment.’
  • ‘I shall wager she has already observed my abandonment of an adornment generally considered requisite.’
  • ‘Some of the fans claim to have had their cars keyed or received verbal abuse for having Steeler adornments on their vehicles.’
  • ‘Except the tattooing both sexes are remarkable for their almost entire absence of any marked adornment or ornament of person.’
  • ‘Earrings have always been included in the category of body adornment.’
  • ‘Necklaces are worn now for a variety of reasons not the least of which personal adornment.’
  • ‘Presenters approached the theme from several distinct positions, creating multilayered biographies of African body adornments.’
  • ‘Her house truck with its zany adornments can be quickly converted to fit in with our image of a gypsy fortune teller's tent.’
  • ‘He holds up a mask of an African-American with no adornments at all on it.’
  • ‘These are the many jewellery makers who turn gold into beautifully crafted adornments.’
  • ‘Have students create a contemporary commemorative sculpture with the accoutrements and adornments appropriate for today.’
  • ‘We find a similar adornment in Israel where a crimson thread was bound around the horns of the goat, the least valuable of the domestic animals.’
  • ‘This may explain why our painter is careful to show Athena as about to bedeck Pandora with a characteristically feminine adornment, a fancy necklace.’
  • ‘As the torch was applied to the base of the pyre, men in the surrounding crowd cast their adornments into the flames.’
  • ‘Cloth and feather adornments were painted bright red (with small touches of yellow) to bracket the people's nakedness, and to expose their bodies more fully.’
  • ‘They produce quantities of small adornments of hammered sheet gold, including spiral ear and twisted nose ornaments.’
  • ‘Neck adornments have been worn since ancient times to signify title or wealth or even just to sop up sweat.’
  • ‘The father immediately took off his necklaces, his soft fine garments and his other adornments and put on clothes that were ragged and soiled.’
  • ‘The adornments are severe and simple, but beautifully moulded and always in exquisite taste.’
  • ‘His less visible piercing, called a hasada, is also a visual adornment.’

  Synonyms

  embellishment, embellishing, decorating, decoration, ornamentation, ornament, enhancement, enhancing

  View synonyms

  1. 1.1The action of adorning something.
     ‘precious stones have been used for the purposes of adornment for over 7,000 years’
     More example sentences

     • ‘Stages of entry into the cult may be marked by transformations of the body or its adornment.’
     • ‘Nor was the adornment of the person altogether overlooked.’
     • ‘The impulse for personal adornment is hard to stamp out.’
     • ‘People who need the adornments of authority to testify to their importance are soon forgotten.’
     • ‘Those women who have to go out to earn for their families cannot afford adornment.’
     • ‘There are useful and ornamental goods suited for any kind of presentation, or for personal adornment, or household use.’
     • ‘There is evidence that the descendants of Native Americans in prehistoric times used beads as adornment in jewelry as well as a way to trade.’
     • ‘This was considered very sensuous at the time, as filth and animal feces were considered adornments, like sexy lingerie is to modern women.’
     • ‘They wear ornaments of human bone, which remind us of death, impermanence and renunciation, and as adornment, they wear ashes from cremation grounds.’
     • ‘The completed building is a towering rectangular block with almost no decoration, an austere statement and bold break away from the traditional methods of architectural adornment.’
     • ‘A golden age Gold jewellery is the predominant commercial outlet for gold sales and personal adornment using gold has been a feature of most societies since ancient times.’
     • ‘The arts, including song, dance, music, sculpture, and bodily adornment, are essential elements of Kongo "therapeutic" practices, not merely adjuncts.’
     • ‘Of course, some flowers are used for personal adornment, both the blossoms themselves and their essences in the form of perfumes.’
     • ‘On paper, the Arc seemed like a reasonable adornment for public space in the bureaucratic eyes that authorized its creation.’
     • ‘Throughout history, Africans have imported glass beads and used them for adornment and elaborate beadwork.’
     • ‘Many African peoples use beads as distinctive elements of personal clothing and adornment.’
     • ‘They were first made in Egypt as early as 4000 BC and were essential adornments for both the living and the dead.’
     • ‘From the late 15 th century etching came into widespread use as a means of adornment, mainly on pieces of armour.’
     • ‘Like all human societies, adornment was a marker of status, and in European societies, adornment often meant adornment of clothing.’
     • ‘Laboriously, he strung them on a thread and hung them round his neck by way of adornment.’