The decorative border on the manuscript's pages was painted with gold leaf and vivid blue pigment.
手稿页面上的装饰边框是用金箔和鲜艳的蓝色颜料绘制的。
The passage first explains the traditional method of dating pottery shards using decorative style, then describes how thermoluminescence testing can independently confirm or refine those style-based estimates.
From a Text Structure and Purpose question · Craft and Structure
Which choice best defines “decorative”?
C — Serving to make something look more attractive. “decorative” means serving to make something look more attractive.
Which word means “serving to make something look more attractive”?
A — decorative. “decorative” means serving to make something look more attractive.
decorative — serving to make something look more attractive. In Chinese: 装饰性的.
decorative is pronounced /ˈdekərətɪv/.
The decorative border on the manuscript's pages was painted with gold leaf and vivid blue pigment. (手稿页面上的装饰边框是用金箔和鲜艳的蓝色颜料绘制的。)
ornamental, adorned, embellishing — all close in meaning to decorative (serving to make something look more attractive).
functional, utilitarian — each the opposite of decorative (serving to make something look more attractive).
Yes. decorative is on the SAT Prep Basic list — the everyday academic words the SAT assumes you already have. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.