Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Festive |
FestiveAdjective1. Offering fun and gaiety; "a gala ball after the inauguration"; "a festive (or festal) occasion"; "gay and exciting night life"; "a merry evening". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "festive" was first used in popular English literature: sometime before 1010. (references) |
Etymology: Festive \Fes"tive\, adjective. [Latin expression festivus, from festum holiday, feast. See feast, and compare to Festivous.]. (Websters 1913) |
Synonyms: FestiveSynonyms: festal (adj), gala(a) (adj), gay (adj), merry (adj). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Amusement | Adjective: amusing, entertaining, diverting; Verb: recreational, recreative, lusory; pleasant; (pleasing); laughable; (ludicrous); witty; fun, festive, festal; jovial, jolly, jocund, roguish, rompish; playful, playful as a kitten; sportive, ludibrious. |
Sociality | Conviviality; good fellowship, good company; joviality, jollity, savoir vivre, festivity, festive board, merrymaking; loving cup; hospitality, heartiness; cheer. |
Convivial; festive, festal; jovial, jolly, hospitable. | |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Festive |
| English words defined with "festive": confetti ♦ Feastful, festal, Festivous, Festlich ♦ gaiety, gala, gay ♦ importantly, Infestive ♦ merry ♦ playfulness ♦ The social evil. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "festive": BOARD ♦ Calves, commercial decorator ♦ Decorate ♦ Goodly trees. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "festive": Festivous ♦ Infestive ♦ Mesymnicum. (references) |
| Domain | Usage | |
Screenplays | They are a very festive people! (Seinfeld; writing credit: Andreas Lenze; Bea Schmidt) | |
Movie/TV Titles | The Festive Lantern (1960) | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | ||
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Theater & Movies | |
Music |
|
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Thumbnail | Description & Credit | Thumbnail | Description & Credit |
 | Illuminated with electric lights for a festive occasion, circa 1913. Photographed by Sargent.Credit: NAVY. |  | A festive moment : Thanksgiving Day.Credit: Library of Congress. |
 | Woman in festive dress, crown and veil holding flower in, Tajikistan.Credit: Library of Congress. | ||
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |||
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Economic History | India | For consumer goods, including refrigerators, TV-sets and music systems, the sellers often give discounts on the listed prices, especially during festive seasons, to attract more customers. (references) |
Madagascar | This spiritual communion is celebrated by the Merina and Betsileo reburial practice of famadihana, or "turning over the dead." In this ritual, relatives' remains are removed from the family tomb, rewrapped in new silk shrouds, and returned to the tomb following festive ceremonies in their honor. (references) | |
Travel | Ireland | Most businesses also close from December 24 through January 2 during the Christmas festive period. (references) |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| "Festive" is generally used as an adjective (general or positive) -- approximately 97.01% of the time. "Festive" is used about 402 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Adjective (general or positive) | 97.01% | 390 | 14,213 |
| Noun (proper) | 2.99% | 12 | 101,599 |
| Total | 100.00% | 402 | N/A |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
| The following table summarizes names derived from the word "festive". | |||
| Name | Gender | Language | Meaning |
| Festus | N/A | Biblical | Festive |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references.
| |||
Expressions using "festive": be in a festive mood ♦ festive attire. Additional references. | |
| Hyphenated Usage | |
Beginning with "festive": festive-day, festive-looking. | |
Ending with "festive": popular-festive. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
festive | 26 |
festive holiday | 23 |
festive from greeting holiday | 16 |
attyre festive | 8 |
festive occasions | 8 |
festive overture | 5 |
festive hamper uk | 4 |
day father festive gift | 3 |
celebrating festive | 3 |
dress festive | 2 |
festive garment | 2 |
attire festive | 2 |
apparel festive | 2 |
background festive | 2 |
festive light | 2 |
elegance.com festive | 2 |
festive gift uk | 2 |
festive occassions | 2 |
festive gift | 2 |
decoration festive | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "festive"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | festiv (convivial, festal), i gëzueshëm (cheerful, cheery, festal, frolic, frolicsome, gleeful, hilarious, joyful, mirthful). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | مهرجاني (festal), مرح (airiness, airy, be merry, blithe, breezy, bright, buoyancy, buoyant, cheerful, cheerfulness, cheering, chirpy, exult, facetious, fresh, frisk, frisky, frolic, frolicsome, fun, gaiety, gay, glee, gleeful, have fun, hilarious, hilarity, jaunty, jocose, jocosity, jocund, jolly, jovial, joviality, joy, joyful, joyfulness, joyous, kittenish, lark, light, lightsome, lively, make merry, merriment, merry, merry making, mirth, mirthful, perkiness, perky, playful, playfulness, playing, rejoice, rollick, romp, sportive, sprightly, sunny, vivacious, vivacity, what fun, winsome), إحتفالي (ceremonial, pompous, solemn), بهيج (airy, cheerful, convivial, glad, happy, lovely, merry, shiny, unstressed). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | празничен (festal, go to meeting, holiday, sabbatic). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 欢乐. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | slavnostní (ceremonial, dressy, formal, solemn), radostný (blithe, cheerful, cheery, exhilarating, glad, gladsome, gleeful, gleesome, good, jolly, joyful, joyous, jubilant, rorty). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | festskrift (festive book). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | feestboek (festive book). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | vieraskirja (festive book, guest-book, visitors' book). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | réjouissant, de fête (festal, festival). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | festlich (ceremonious, convivial, convivially, feastful, festal, festally, gala, magnificent, solemn, solemnly, splendid). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | πανηγυρικόσ (panegyric, panegyrical), εύθυμοσ (blithe, chirpy, convivial, debonair, frabjous, gay, happy go lucky, hilarious, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyous, light hearted, merry, mirthful, resilient, sprightly, zippy), εορταστικόσ (commemorative, festal). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | ח'י'י (ceremonial, festal, solemn). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | ünnepies (festival), ünnepi hangulatú. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | festivo (festal, holiday), gioioso (blithesome, buxom, cheerful, joyful, joyous). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 浮かれる (to be festive, to make merry). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | おぜ" (four-legged tray for festive food), きつれい (festive annual custom), きちれい (festive annual custom), うかれる (to be festive, to make merry), いわいぎ (festive dress), いわいうた (festive poem or song), "うはく (bribery, colours for festive or auspicious occasions, corruption, Doctor of Engineering, feudal lords, gold and silver, nobles, partiality, red and white, thickness, yellow and white). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Norwegian | festlig. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | estivefay festivo (anacreontic, cheerful, convivial, festal, gay, holiday, merry), festival de moda. (various references) festiv (feastful, festival, fine, holiday-like, solemn), sãrbãtoresc (feastly, festal, festival, holiday-like, merry, solemn, splendid). (various references) веселый (blithe, blithesome, breezy, canty, cheerful, cheery, chirpy, convivial, corky, debonair, exhilarated, exhilarating, frolic, gamesome, gay, gleeful, hilarious, jocund, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, light hearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, playful, pleasant, set up, sportful, sportive, sprightly), праздничный (celebratory, Christmassy, convivial, festal, gala, go to meeting, holiday). (various references) sogail (joyous), meadhrach (glad, joyful, lively). (various references) veseo (blithe, blithesome, canty, cheerful, exuberant, frolic, gay, happy, jocose, jolly, jovial, joyful, joyous, lighthearted, lightsome, lively, merry, mirthful, perky, rejoicing, rollicking), svečan (declamatory, dressy, festal, formal, gala, grave, serious, solemn, state, stately). (various references) festivo (boon, festal, festival, holiday, playful). (various references) festlig (convivial, festival, grand, hilarious, killing, uproarious). (various references) เกี่ยวกับการฉลองรื่นเริง. (various references) festival (carnival, fair, feast, festival, festivity), bayramlık (gala dress, go to meeting, holiday, holiday clothes), şenlikli. (various references) святковий (convivial, ferial, festal, festival, gala, holiday, jolly, merry). (various references) thuộc ng y lễ (festal), thuộc ng y hội vui thích tiệc tùng, đình đám (doing, marry-making). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | celebrata, celebratis, celebratum, festa, feste, festi, festis, festivus, festo, festos, festum, festus, genialis, solemnis. (various references) |
| Old French | 900-1400 | jolif. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Derivations | |
Words beginning with "festive": festively, festiveness, festivenesses. (additional references) | |
| |
"Festive" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: estives, fertive, Feshie, Festegem, festi, festine, festivus, Fethiye. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "festive" (pronounced fe"stiv) |
| 5 | -e" s t i v | congestive, digestive, restive, suggestive. |
| 4 | -s t i v | exhaustive. |
| 3 | -t i v | abortive, accommodative, accumulative, accusative, acquisitive, active, adaptive, addictive, additive, adjective, administrative, adoptive, affective, affirmative, alliterative, alternative, anticompetitive, appointive, appreciative, argumentative, assaultive, assertive, attentive, attractive, authoritative, automotive, captive, causative, cognitive, collaborative, collective, combative, commemorative, communicative, comparative, competitive, conductive, connective, consecutive, conservative, constructive, consultative, contemplative, contraceptive, cooperative, corrective, corruptive, counterproductive, creative, cumulative, curative, deceptive, decorative, defective, definitive, degenerative, deliberative, demonstrative, derivative, descriptive, destructive, detective, dilutive, diminutive, directive, disincentive, disparages, dispositive, disruptive, dissipative, distinctive, distributive, duplicative, effective, elective, elucidative, eruptive, evocative, executive, expletive, exploitative, exploitive, facultative, Federative, figurative, fixative, formative, fugitive, furtive, generative, hyperactive, hypersensitive, illustrative, imaginative, imitative, imperative, inactive, inattentive, incentive, indicative, ineffective, infective, infinitive, informative, initiative, injunctive, innovative, inoperative, inquisitive, insensitive, instinctive, instructive, interactive, interpretive, introspective, intuitive, invective, inventive, investigative, irrespective, iterative, laxative, legislative, locomotive, lucrative, manipulative, meditative, motive, narrative, native, negative, neoconservative, nonautomotive, noncompetitive, noncumulative, nonexecutive, nonnative, nonproductive, normative, nutritive, objective, obstructive, octave, operative, overactive, palliative, participative, pejorative, perceptive, perspective, photoconductive, plaintive, positive, predictive, preemptive, prerogative, preservative, presumptive, preventative, preventive, primitive, proactive, probative, productive, prognosticative, prohibitive, projective, prospective, protective, provocative, punitive, putative, qualitative, quantitative, radioactive, reactive, receptive, reconstructive, recuperative, redemptive, redistributive, reflective, refractive, regulative, rehabilitative, relative, remunerative, rep, repetitive, representative, reproductive, respective, restorative, restrictive, retroactive, retrospective, secretive, sedative, seductive, selective, sensitive, speculative, stimulative, subjective, substantive, superconductive, superlative, supportive, talkative, tentative, ultraconservative, unattractive, uncompetitive, uncooperative, unimaginative, uninformative, unproductive, unreceptive, unrepresentative, vegetative, vindictive, vituperative. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-e-f-i-s-t-v" | |
-1 letter: evites. | |
-2 letters: evite, feist, fetes, fives, sieve. | |
-3 letters: efts, eves, fees, feet, fete, fets, fist, fits, five, seif, sift, site, tees, ties, vees, vest, vets, vies, vise. | |
-4 letters: efs, eft, eve, fee, fet, fie, fit, ifs, its, see, sei, set, sit, tee, tie, tis, vee, vet, vie, vis. | |
-5 letters: ef, es, et, if, is, it. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-e-f-i-s-t-v" | |
+2 letters: festively. | |
+3 letters: afterlives, defectives, effectives. | |
+4 letters: definitives, devitrifies, festiveness, festivities, fictiveness, furtiveness, interfluves, perfectives, vociferates. | |
+5 letters: festivalgoer, fugitiveness, overfatigues, overinflates. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
Hexadecimal (or equivalents, 770AD-1900s) (references)46 65 73 74 69 76 65 |
| Leonardo da Vinci (1452-1519; backwards) (references)
|
| American Sign Language (origins from 1620-1817 in Italy and, especially, France) (references)
|
| Semaphore (1791, in France) (references)
|
| Braille (1829, in France) (references)
|
Morse Code (1836) (references)..-. . ... - .. ...- . |
| Dancing Men (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 1903) (references)
|
Binary Code (1918-1938, probably earlier) (references)01000110 01100101 01110011 01110100 01101001 01110110 01100101 |
HTML Code (1990) (references)F e s t i v e |
ISO 10646 (1991-1993) (references)0046 0065 0073 0074 0069 0076 0065 |
| British Sign Language (Fingerspelling, BSL; 1992, British Deaf Association Dictionary of British Sign Language) (references)
|
Encryption (beginner's substitution cypher): (references)40718586758871 |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Modern | 5. Usage: Commercial 6. Images: Slideshow 7. Images: Photo Album 8. Quotations: Non-fiction | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Names: Derived from 11. Expressions 12. Expressions: Internet | 13. Translations: Modern 14. Translations: Ancient 15. Derivations 16. Rhymes | 17. Anagrams 18. Orthography 19. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
