Festive

How to spell festive

7 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce festive

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does festive mean?

1. adjectiveCheerful and lively in a way suited to a celebration or holiday.

Festive in a sentence

• The office took on a festive mood once the decorations went up.

• A festive meal of roast turkey and mulled wine ended the year.

Where does festive come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin festivus, meaning 'merry' or 'in the mood for a feast', which was built on festum, a religious feast day or holiday. The root festum is also the source of the everyday English word 'feast' and is closely tied to the Latin festus, meaning 'joyful' or 'solemnly celebrated'. English took the word up in the 1600s, at first describing anything fitting for a banquet or celebration, and only gradually settled into its modern sense of cheerful, holiday-like good spirits. The same Latin family gives us 'festival' and 'fiesta', so the shared fest- beginning is a reliable anchor for the spelling. The trap is the quiet ending: it is spelled -ive, not -ife or -ife, even though the word sounds as though it could end either way.

How the word is built

• fest- (from Latin festum: feast, holiday)
• -ive (adjective suffix: tending to)