festive
fes·tive/ˈfɛstɪv/adjective
festive is spelled F-E-S-T-I-V-E: 7 letters and 2 syllables (fes·tive). It appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, festive means “Having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebration” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in festive?
| Letters | 7: F-E-S-T-I-V-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: fes·tive |
| In writing | 3.8 times per million words; the 13,321st most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is festive?
Festive appears 3.8 times per million words in written English, the 13,321st most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce festive?
- /ˈfɛstɪv/
Festive has 2 syllables, split fes·tive in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: En-us-festive.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of festive
- more festive comparative
- most festive superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does festive mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
Having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebration.
The room was decked out in festive streamers, with flowers everywhere.
- 2
In the mood to celebrate.
Please put the Christmas decorations away, I'm really not in a festive mood.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Festive in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense having the atmosphere, decoration, or attitude of a festival, holiday, or celebr:
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does festive come from?
From French festif, from Latin festivus (“pertaining to a feast, gay, lively, joyous”). Equivalent to feast + -ive.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).