festive

B1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /ˈfɛstɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #14052

Meanings

1

adj
Cheerful and full of fun, as at a holiday or celebration.

There were many festive parties in the run-up to Christmas.
2

adj
Having the atmosphere or decoration of a celebration.

The room was decked out with festive streamers and flowers.
3

adj
In the mood to celebrate.

I'm feeling festive, so let's invite all our friends over.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

feastfulfeastly

Word family

Forms festiveness

Derived forms festivelyfestivenessnonfestivepostfestiveunfestive

Related forms festivalfestivous

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

festive occasion
an event marked by celebration and enjoyment

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From French festif, from Latin festivus (“pertaining to a feast, gay, lively, joyous”). Equivalent to feast + -ive.

*dʰeh₁- Proto-Indo-European festif French festivus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities

External links

# festive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** B1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /ˈfɛstɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 14052

## Meanings
1. Cheerful and full of fun, as at a holiday or celebration.
2. Having the atmosphere or decoration of a celebration.
3. In the mood to celebrate.

## Examples
- There were many festive parties in the run-up to Christmas.
- The room was decked out with festive streamers and flowers.
- I'm feeling festive, so let's invite all our friends over.

## Synonyms
- feastful
- feastly

## Derived Forms
- festively
- festiveness
- nonfestive
- postfestive
- unfestive

## Related Forms
- festival
- festivous

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: *dʰeh₁-
- Root: festif
- Root: festivus

## Etymology
From French festif, from Latin festivus (“pertaining to a feast, gay, lively, joyous”). Equivalent to feast + -ive.

## AI Etymology
Festive comes from French festif, from Latin festivus (“pertaining to a feast, gay, lively, joyous”). Equivalent to feast + -ive. In current use, the main senses are “Cheerful and full of fun, as at a holiday or celebration” and “Having the atmosphere or decoration of a celebration”.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities

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