Meaning & use
ornamentally
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Meaning
adverb
In a way that is intended to decorate something rather than to be useful.
Grammar: Modifies a verb or adjective: it tells you the purpose or manner of the action.
Patterns
- be ornamentally used
- ornamentally designed
The pillars are ornamentally carved but hold up the roof as well.
These tiles were made ornamentally, not to keep out water.
The garden is laid out ornamentally, with paths that lead nowhere in particular.
Common combinations
- ornamentally designed
- The gate is ornamentally designed, with curls of iron along the top.
- purely ornamentally
- The small windows are there purely ornamentally; they let in almost no light.
- used ornamentally
- The stones were used ornamentally in the walls of the old church.
- ornamentally carved
- The chairs are ornamentally carved but uncomfortable to sit on.
Synonyms and how they differ
- decoratively
- Very close in meaning, but 'decoratively' is the more common choice in everyday writing about rooms and objects.
- for show
- An informal phrase with a similar idea, suggesting something exists to be looked at rather than used.
Opposites
Word family
- ornament noun
- A small object used to decorate something.
- ornamental adjective
- Decorative rather than useful.
- ornamentation noun
- Decoration added to a building, object, or piece of music.
- ornamented adjective
- Decorated with patterns or small objects.
Commonly confused: ornamentally or ornamental?
ornamentally vs ornamental
'Ornamental' is the adjective ('an ornamental fountain'), while 'ornamentally' is the adverb describing how something is done or used.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'ornamentally' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Ornamentally' is an adverb, so it describes how something is placed or used, as in option 1. Option 0 needs the adjective 'ornamental' before 'beautiful', option 2 uses an adverb where a predicate adjective is needed, and option 3 wrongly forms a comparative with an adverb ending in -ly.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “ornamentally”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.