festive

English

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈfɛstɪv/

• Audio (US):

  (file)

• Hyphenation: fes‧tive
• Rhymes: -ɛstɪv

Adjective

festive (comparative more festive, superlative most festive)

1. Having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebration.

   The room was decked out in festive streamers, with flowers everywhere.

   • 1938, Siegfried Sassoon, The Old Century and seven more years, London: Faber, page 35 (1968 edition):

     On festive occasions away from home we softened under the influence of Christmas trees, bran pies, and conjurors.

2. In the mood to celebrate.

   Please put the Christmas decorations away, I'm really not in a festive mood.

Synonyms

• feastful
• feastly

Derived terms

• festively
• festiveness
• festive season
• festivous
• nonfestive
• postfestive
• unfestive

Translations

having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebration

• Armenian: տոնական (hy) (tonakan)
• Bulgarian: празничен (prazničen), тържествен (bg) (tǎržestven)
• Catalan: festiu
• Czech: slavnostní (cs)
• Danish: festlig
• Dutch: feestelijk (nl), feestelijke (nl)
• Esperanto: festa (eo)
• Finnish: juhlava (fi)
• French: festif (fr) m, festive (fr) f
• Georgian: მხიარული (mxiaruli)
• German: festlich (de)
• Greek: γιορτινός (el) (giortinós), εορταστικός (el) (eortastikós)
• Hungarian: ünnepi (hu)
• Italian: festivo (it) m, festiva (it) f
• Latin: festus, festivus (la)
• Macedonian: празничен (prazničen)
• Polish: biesiadny (pl)
• Romanian: festiv (ro)
• Russian: пра́здничный (ru) (prázdničnyj)
• Yiddish: יום־טובֿדיק (yontefdik)

French

Adjective

festive

1. feminine singular of festif

Italian

Adjective

festive

1. feminine plural of festivo

Latin

Etymology

From fēstīvus (“joyous, festive; pleasing”), from fēstus (“feast-like; festive”).

Adverb

fēstīvē (not comparable)

1. agreeably, pleasantly, delightfully
2. humorously, facetiously, wittily

Related terms

• fēstīvālis
• fēstīvitās
• fēstīviter
• fēstīvum
• fēstīvus
• fēstum
• fēstus

References

• “festive”, in Charlton T. Lewis and Charles Short (1879) A Latin Dictionary, Oxford: Clarendon Press
• “festive”, in Charlton T. Lewis (1891) An Elementary Latin Dictionary, New York: Harper & Brothers
• festive in Gaffiot, Félix (1934) Dictionnaire illustré latin-français, Hachette.