Meaning & use
festive
Last updated
UK/ˈfestɪv/
US/ˈfestɪv/
Meaning
adjectivecomparable
Cheerful and suited to a celebration, especially a holiday.
Grammar: Used before a noun or after a verb: a festive mood, or The room looks festive.
Patterns
- festive season
- feel festive
The town looks festive with lights everywhere.
We wore red for the festive dinner.
She wanted something festive to wear.
Word forms
| comparative | more festive |
|---|---|
| superlative | most festive |
Common combinations
- festive season
- Happy festive season.
- festive mood
- Everyone was in a festive mood.
- festive decorations
- Festive decorations lined the street.
- festive atmosphere
- The market has a festive atmosphere.
- feel festive
- I feel festive today.
Synonyms and how they differ
- celebratory
- Celebratory is more formal and links to a specific event.
- merry
- Merry is more about being cheerful, often at Christmas.
- joyful
- Joyful is about the feeling, not about decorations or occasions.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: festive or festal?
festive vs festal
Festal is a formal word for relating to a feast; festive is the common one.
Practice
The streets were decorated with lights to create a ___ atmosphere.
Choose one answer.
Festive means celebratory. Gloomy and solemn are the opposite mood.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “festive”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.
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