Meanings
- USdatedMemorial Day.
When Carney heard they were renaming Decoration Day and moving it from May 30th to the last Monday in May, he hadn’t seen the point.
2023, Colson Whitehead, Crook Manifesto, Fleet, page 16
Synonyms & antonyms
nounlegal holiday in the United States, last Monday in May; commemorates the members of the United States armed forces who were killed in war
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
So called from the practice of decorating the military graves with flowers.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Decoration Day. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Decoration%20Day
“Decoration Day.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Decoration%20Day. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Decoration Day,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Decoration%20Day.
Source: Decoration Day on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.