ornamentational

Ornamentational is an adjective describing something related to ornamentation or serving as ornament; it denotes a decorative rather than a purely functional quality.

The word derives from ornamentation, with the standard English suffix -al or -ational used to form adjectives. It is related to ornamental, but is typically rarer and more technical.

In practice, ornamentational appears in scholarly writing about architecture, design, and the decorative arts, where it characterizes features such as moldings, friezes, tracery, or patterns that exist for visual effect.

Ornamentational contrasts with ornamental in nuance: ornamental often describes the object’s appearance, while ornamentational can imply a system, tradition, or deliberate program of decoration.

Because the term is uncommon outside technical discourse, many writers prefer more common synonyms such as decorative or ornamental.