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Meaning & use

fete

verb, noun·Advanced

Last updated

UK/feɪt/
US/feɪt/

Meanings

  1. verbtransitive

    To welcome or honor a person with a party, parade or other public celebration.

    Grammar: Usually passive: the winners were feted by the city.

    Patterns

    • fete someone
    • be feted as something
    • be feted by someone

    The returning champions were feted with a parade through the city.

    The novelist was feted at every festival she visited.

    The town feted its new mayor with fireworks and a concert.

  2. nouncountableBritish

    An outdoor event with stalls, games and entertainment, often held to raise money for a school or local cause.

    Grammar: Usually British and linked to schools and villages: the school fete is on Saturday.

    Patterns

    • a village fete
    • a summer fete

    We ran a cake stall at the village fete on Saturday.

    The school fete raised enough money for new library books.

    Rain forced the summer fete to move into the church hall.

Word forms

pluralfetes
third person singularfetes
past tensefeted
past participlefeted
-ing formfeting

Common combinations

village fete
The village fete includes a dog show and a tombola.
school fete
Parents helped run games at the school fete.
be feted as
After the victory he was feted as a national hero.
feted by the press
The young designer was feted by the press after her first show.
fete a winner
The club decided to fete the winner with a banquet.

Synonyms and how they differ

celebrate
'Celebrate' is the general word for marking something with festivities, while 'fete' means making a particular person the guest of honor.
lionize
'Lionize' stresses treating someone as a celebrity and is often a little critical, whereas 'fete' is more neutral and focuses on the party.
honor
'Honor' can be a quiet act such as a speech or award, while 'fete' implies a lively public celebration.
fair
As nouns, a 'fair' is a broader market-style event, whereas a 'fete' is typically a small community fundraiser.

Opposites

snubignore

Word family

fête noun
the original French spelling with an accent, still common
feted verb
the past tense, as in 'they feted the team'
festival noun
a day or period of celebration, from the same Latin root
festive adjective
relating to a celebration, merry

Commonly confused: fete or fate?

fete vs fate

'Fate' sounds exactly the same but means destiny or the power that is thought to control events, not a celebration.

Practice

The returning champions were ___ at a parade through the city.

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