Meaning & use
photobooth
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Meanings
nouncountable
A small enclosed cabin with a camera, where you pay to have a short strip of pictures taken and printed quickly.
Grammar: Countable: there was a photobooth at the station.
Patterns
- in a photobooth
- take photos in a photobooth
We squeezed into the photobooth and made silly faces for four quick shots.
There is an old photobooth near the ticket machines at the station.
He needed passport pictures, so he used the photobooth in the shopping center.
nouncountable
A camera setup with a backdrop and props hired for parties and weddings so guests can take fun pictures of themselves.
Grammar: Often hired: they booked a photobooth for the reception.
Patterns
- hire a photobooth
The couple hired a photobooth for their wedding reception.
Guests grabbed hats and feather boas from the photobooth props table.
The photobooth at the office party printed a copy for everyone who posed.
Word forms
| plural | photobooths |
|---|
Common combinations
- hire a photobooth
- We decided to hire a photobooth for the birthday.
- step into a photobooth
- She stepped into the photobooth and drew the curtain.
- photobooth strip
- He kept a photobooth strip of him and his sister in his wallet.
- vintage photobooth
- The cafe has a vintage photobooth in the corner.
Synonyms and how they differ
- photo kiosk
- A photo kiosk is a machine for printing or ordering pictures you already have, not one that takes new ones.
- selfie station
- A selfie station is a modern, usually open setup where you take your own photos, while a classic photobooth is an enclosed cabin.
Word family
- photo noun
- a picture taken with a camera
- photograph noun
- the full word for a photo
- photography noun
- the art or practice of taking photographs
- booth noun
- a small enclosed or partly enclosed space
Commonly confused: photobooth or photoshoot?
photobooth vs photoshoot
A photoshoot is a planned session in which a photographer takes pictures of someone; a photobooth is an automatic machine or a party prop.
Practice
We needed quick passport pictures, so we sat in the ______ at the train station.
Choose one answer.
A photobooth is a small cabin that takes and prints pictures automatically. A darkroom is for developing film and a gallery is for displaying work.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “photobooth”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.