Meaning & use
attic
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Meanings
nouncountable
The room or open space under the sloping roof of a house, usually used to store things.
Grammar: Used with in or up in: boxes stored in the attic. Stairs or a ladder often lead up to it.
Patterns
- in the attic
- up in the attic
- an attic room
We keep old holiday decorations in the attic.
Mice had made a nest in the attic.
The children found a dusty trunk in the attic.
nouncountable
A small room at the top of a house, sometimes converted into a place to live or work.
Grammar: Often described with a word such as converted, cozy or cramped.
Patterns
- an attic apartment
- a converted attic
The writer worked in a small attic overlooking the rooftops.
They turned the attic into a guest bedroom.
The poor student rented a cramped attic for the winter.
Word forms
| plural | attics |
|---|
Common combinations
- dusty attic
- She found an old photo album in the dusty attic.
- converted attic
- The converted attic became a quiet study.
- attic insulation
- Good attic insulation can lower heating bills.
- attic stairs
- He pulled down the attic stairs and climbed up.
- attic window
- A light was on in the attic window.
Synonyms and how they differ
- loft
- Loft is the usual British word for a roof space, and can also mean a converted open living space in a former warehouse.
- garret
- Garret is old-fashioned or literary and suggests a cramped, poor room under the roof.
- roof space
- Roof space is a plain British phrase that stresses the area beneath the roof, with no sense of a finished room.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: attic or basement? attic or loft?
attic vs basement
A basement is the room below a house, while an attic is the space at the very top under the roof.
attic vs loft
In the United States, a loft usually means a large open apartment, while in Britain it is a normal word for an attic.
Practice
The old suitcases are stored at the very top of the house, under the roof. They are in the ____.
Choose one answer.
The attic is the space under the roof. A basement is below ground, a pantry stores food, and a porch is outside the front door.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “attic”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.