Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

festive

/ˈfɛstɪv/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.58 in modern English

Syllables: fes-tive
IPA: /ˈfɛstɪv/

13

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

adj

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

adj

In the mood to celebrate.

Example Sentences

"The room was decked out in festive streamers, with flowers everywhere."
"On festive occasions away from home we softened under the influence of Christmas trees, bran pies, and conjurors."
"Please put the Christmas decorations away, I'm really not in a festive mood."

Etymology

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

Origin

Source language: French

Word Breakdown

Root: *dʰeh₁-, festif, festivus

Inflected Forms

more festive (comparative) most festive (superlative)

Derived Forms

festively festiveness festivity nonfestive postfestive unfestive

Phrases

festive season

Frequently Paired Words

festival festivous

Synonyms

feastful feastly gay festal merry

Rhymes With

digestive suggestive congestive restive

Questions

How do you pronounce festive?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈfɛstɪv/.
What does festive mean?: Having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebration.
Where does festive come from?: It is traced to French.

How to pronounce festive

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “festive”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈfɛstɪv/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “festive”.
Repeat and practice — Say “festive” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.