tastefully

tastefully — adverb

1. done or presented with careful choices that reflect a sense of style and an awar

1.adverbB2
Definition

done or presented with careful choices that reflect a sense of style and an awareness of what others consider appropriate

Example

The living room was tastefully decorated with pale grey walls and fresh flowers.

collocation: tastefully decorated (rooms, homes)

Maeve always dresses tastefully, choosing simple but elegant clothes for every occasion.

collocation: dresses tastefully (about clothing choice)

Common collocations
  • tastefully decorated
  • tastefully furnished
  • tastefully dressed
  • tastefully designed
  • tastefully arranged
  • tastefully appointed
Synonyms
  • elegantly

    focuses on graceful, refined style; slightly more formal

  • stylishly

    emphasises fashionability or trendiness; sometimes less formal than tastefully

  • artfully

    highlights creative skill or artistic arrangement

Antonyms
  • tastelessly

    the direct opposite — lacking style or appropriateness

  • garishly

    too bright, showy, or loud in an offensive way

Grammar Patterns

verb + tastefully

tastefully + adjective / past participle

Usage Note

Commonly pairs with verbs of decoration, furnishing, dressing, or design (decorate, furnish, dress, arrange, design). Often appears before a past participle or adjective.

Common Mistakes

The soup was tastefully seasoned.
The soup was tastily seasoned.
'tastefully' describes visual/style choices, not flavour. Use 'tastily' for food that tastes good.

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: adverb/1

While tastefully, elegantly, stylishly, and artfully all describe aesthetically pleasing actions or results, they differ in emphasis. Tastefully suggests a conservative, appropriate choice that avoids offence — a tastefully decorated room is neither boring nor overdone. Elegantly adds a sense of grace, refinement, and smoothness (an elegant gown flows and flatters). Stylishly is more about current fashion or trendiness (a stylishly dressed person follows what is in vogue). Artfully highlights skill, creativity, or clever arrangement (an artfully placed spotlight draws the eye). The antonym tastelessly describes choices that lack judgment, often being showy or crude. For example: 'The apartment was tastefully furnished with neutral colours' (appropriate, understated) versus 'She was stylishly dressed in the latest designer jacket' (trendy, current).

elegantlystylishlyartfullytastelessly

Common collocations

Adverbs

  • very tastefully
  • quite tastefully
  • always tastefully
  • beautifully and tastefully
  • simply but tastefully

Phrases

  • tastefully done
  • tastefully put together
  • tastefully appointed

Etymology

Old FrenchMiddle EnglishEnglish

Formed from 'tasteful' (meaning 'having or showing good taste', first recorded in the early 17th century) plus the adverbial suffix '-ly'. The adjective 'tasteful' itself comes from 'taste' — which originally referred to the physical sense of flavour (from Old French 'tast', meaning 'a touching, a trying') but by the 16th century had developed the metaphorical meaning of 'aesthetic judgment or discernment.'