Meaning & use
living room
Last updated
Meaning
nouncountable
The main room in a house where people sit, relax, and entertain guests.
Grammar: Countable: a living room, two living rooms. Often written as two words, not one.
Patterns
- in the living room
- a living room with something
- the living room of a house
We watch television in the living room after dinner.
Their living room has a large window facing the garden.
She tidied the living room before her guests arrived.
Word forms
| plural | living rooms |
|---|
Common combinations
- in the living room
- The children are playing in the living room.
- a spacious living room
- The apartment has a spacious living room and two bedrooms.
- the living room window
- Rain was beating against the living room window.
- a living room sofa
- They bought a new living room sofa last month.
- living room furniture
- We need to buy some living room furniture.
Synonyms and how they differ
- sitting room
- Sitting room is the usual British term for the same room; living room is more common in American English.
- lounge
- Lounge is British and can also mean a public waiting area in a hotel or airport.
- parlor
- Parlor is old-fashioned and now sounds formal or historical.
Commonly confused: living room or bedroom? living room or dining room?
living room vs bedroom
A bedroom is for sleeping; a living room is for sitting and relaxing.
living room vs dining room
A dining room is used mainly for eating meals, while a living room is for relaxing.
Practice
Choose the best word: After dinner, we sat in the ______ and talked for hours.
Choose one answer.
A living room is the room for sitting and socializing, so it fits 'sat and talked'. A bathroom or garage is not used for relaxing with guests.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “living room”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.