Meaning & use
soft furnishings
Last updated
Meanings
nounpluralBritish
Cloth items for a room, such as curtains, cushions, rugs, and covers, that make it feel comfortable.
Grammar: Always plural and used with a plural verb: the soft furnishings are new.
Patterns
- soft furnishings for a room
- a shop that sells soft furnishings
- choose/buy soft furnishings
We painted the walls white and then chose soft furnishings in warm colors.
The shop sells soft furnishings such as curtains, blinds, and cushions.
Good soft furnishings can make a plain room feel much warmer.
noununcountableBritishbusiness
The business or activity of making and selling these cloth items for homes.
Grammar: Used as an uncountable noun for the trade or department: she works in soft furnishings.
Patterns
- work in soft furnishings
- the soft furnishings department
She has worked in soft furnishings for over ten years.
The store's soft furnishings department is on the second floor.
Word forms
| plural | soft furnishings |
|---|
Common combinations
- soft furnishings department
- Ask at the soft furnishings department for help with curtain sizes.
- a range of soft furnishings
- The catalog offers a wide range of soft furnishings in many fabrics.
- match the soft furnishings
- Try to match the soft furnishings to the color of the sofa.
- heavy soft furnishings
- Heavy soft furnishings like thick curtains help keep the heat in.
- shop for soft furnishings
- We spent Saturday shopping for soft furnishings for the new flat.
Synonyms and how they differ
- soft goods
- Common in American English for cloth household items, but it can also include clothing, so it is broader.
- textiles
- A more general word for woven cloth and products; it covers clothes and industrial cloth too, not just home items.
- home accessories
- A wider shopping term that also includes lamps, vases and other non-fabric objects.
Word family
- furnishings noun
- The general word for the furniture and equipment in a room or house.
- furnish verb
- To put furniture and equipment into a room or building.
- furnished adjective
- Describing a room or flat that already has furniture in it.
Commonly confused: soft furnishings or furniture? soft furnishings or fixtures?
soft furnishings vs furniture
Furniture means tables, chairs, beds and similar hard items; soft furnishings are the cloth things such as curtains and cushions.
soft furnishings vs fixtures
Fixtures are items fixed permanently to a building, like sinks or built-in cupboards, while soft furnishings can usually be moved or replaced easily.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'soft furnishings' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Soft furnishings' is a plural noun for cloth home items, so it fits 'bought new soft furnishings, including curtains and cushions.' Option A uses a singular verb, which is wrong; option C uses the phrase as a job title for one person; option D treats it as a verb, but it is a noun.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “soft furnishings”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.