Meaning & use
coffee table
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Meaning
nouncountable
A low table placed in front of a sofa, used for drinks, magazines, or decorations.
Grammar: Countable: use 'a coffee table' or 'coffee tables'. Often written as two words, but the hyphenated form 'coffee-table' appears when it modifies another noun (e.g., coffee-table book).
Patterns
- a coffee table
- on the coffee table
- coffee-table book
She put her mug down on the coffee table and picked up the remote.
They bought a modern coffee table with a glass top for their living room.
Word forms
| plural | coffee tables |
|---|
Common combinations
- coffee-table book
- The celebrity's memoir is a glossy coffee-table book full of photos.
- glass coffee table
- A glass coffee table can make a small room feel bigger.
- wooden coffee table
- They inherited a heavy wooden coffee table from their grandparents.
- put something on the coffee table
- He put the newspaper on the coffee table and went to the kitchen.
- coffee table in front of the sofa
- There's a coffee table in front of the sofa, so you can reach your drink easily.
Synonyms and how they differ
- cocktail table
- A more formal term used especially in American English for a low table in a living room; 'coffee table' is the everyday word.
- side table
- A small table placed beside a chair or sofa, often for a lamp or drink; a coffee table is larger and sits in front of the seating.
Word family
- coffee-table adjective
- Used before a noun to describe a large, illustrated book meant for display, as in 'a coffee-table book'.
Commonly confused: coffee table or end table?
coffee table vs end table
An end table is a small table placed at the end of a sofa or beside a chair, while a coffee table is low and goes in front of the sofa.
Practice
Where did you put the magazine? — I left it ______.
Choose one answer.
'On the coffee table' is correct because objects rest on the flat surface of a table. 'In the coffee table' suggests inside it, which is only possible if it has a drawer or shelf, and 'at the coffee table' is used for being near it, not for placing something on it.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “coffee table”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.