Catherine D. Bowen
Did you know?
Fete is a word worth celebrating. It's been around since Middle English, when it was used in a manuscript to refer to "fetes, spectacles and other worldly vanytees." Since the 19th century, fete has been doing double duty, also serving as a verb meaning "to honor or commemorate with a fete." You can honor fete by remembering that it entered English from Middle French, and that it derives ultimately from the Old French feste, meaning "festival"—a root that, not surprisingly, also gave English the word feast. Because of its French ties, you will sometimes see fete spelled with a circumflex above the first e (fête), as that's how it appears in that language.
Synonyms
Examples of fete in a Sentence
Chris Gardner, The Hollywood Reporter, 4 Mar. 2024
Lunar New Year Family Celebration at Smithsonian American Art Museum
The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s annual fete spotlights how different Asian cultures ring in the Lunar New Year, with plenty of activities for kids, including crafts, photo booths and face painting.
—Washington Post, 8 Feb. 2024
Typically, shorter dresses like this Dress the Population Catalina Fit & Flare Cocktail Dress are great choices for more informal fetes, while midi-length frocks like this Dress the Population Alicia Mixed Media Midi Dress are meant for cocktail receptions.
—Carly Totten, Southern Living, 15 Mar. 2024
Fronting the campaign is Imaan Hammam, who was in attendance at last night's cocktail fete, which featured a full spread of Indian delights.
—Vogue, 13 Mar. 2024
Brandy Clark entered Sunday’s awards fete with a career total of 17 Grammy nominations and no wins — a record for any country-music artist.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2024
At the fete, Vogue caught up with Nnadi and Malle on their favorite memories from the past year and what's to come in 2024.
—Concetta Ciarlo, Vogue, 14 Feb. 2024
Crop Over’s summer fete is tied to when enslaved people celebrated the end of sugarcane season or the crop was over.
—Kristin Braswell, Travel + Leisure, 10 Feb. 2024
The fete, lit up by a vibrant magenta light, celebrated the brand’s viral Candy Glaze Lip Gloss Stick.
—Kiana Murden, Vogue, 9 Feb. 2024
Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 28 Mar. 2024
The company has feted her at events and online as representative of a workplace welcoming to all.
—Paresh Dave, WIRED, 7 Mar. 2024
On March 25, the legendary filmmaker will be feted with USC‘s University Medallion — the university’s highest honor, which has been presented on only three previous occasions — in recognition of 30 years of the Shoah Foundation.
—Scott Feinberg, The Hollywood Reporter, 25 Mar. 2024
Both will be feted during the 7th edition of the event, picking up the Canal+ Icon Award and the Madame Figaro Rising Star Award respectively.
—Marta Balaga, Variety, 12 Mar. 2024
Though, Scorsese is a notorious menswear fan with impeccable taste in tailoring who is being feted by Giorgio Armani the night before the awards ceremony.
—Dave Schilling, Los Angeles Times, 8 Mar. 2024
Editors’ Picks The Essential James Baldwin Those few Haredim already in the military have reported feeling more feted in their communities, leading them to feel more confident walking through their neighborhoods in uniform.
—Natan Odenheimer, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2024
The other 2024 Lifetime Achievement honorees being feted by the Recording Academy — under whose auspices the Grammys are presented — include Motown singing great Gladys Knight and The Clark Sisters, who are top-selling female vocal group in gospel-music history.
—George Varga, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Jan. 2024
Bon Jovi’s 40th anniversary kicked off earlier this year when their lead singer was feted as the MusiCares Person of the Year with a tribute concert featuring the likes of Bruce Springsteen, Shania Twain, Jason Isbell, Jelly Roll and many more.
—Daniel Kreps, Rolling Stone, 14 Mar. 2024
These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'fete.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Dictionary Entries Near fete
Cite this Entry
“Fete.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/fete. Accessed 17 Apr. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
fete
2 of 2 verb
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