cubicle
Americannoun
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a small space or compartment partitioned off.
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a bedroom, especially one of a number of small ones in a divided dormitory, as in English public schools.
noun
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a partially or totally enclosed section of a room, as in a dormitory
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an indoor construction designed to house individual cattle while allowing them free access to silage
Etymology
Origin of cubicle
1400–50; late Middle English < Latin cubiculum bedroom, equivalent to cub ( āre ) to lie down + -i- -i- + -culum -cle 2
Explanation
A cubicle is a small space partitioned off within a larger space for a particular purpose — usually reading or studying. Or just surfing the Internet. Cubicle comes from the Latin term for a monk's bedroom, cubiculum, which itself is from the word cubare, "to lie down." Back then a monk would probably share it with an illuminated manuscript and a Bible; nowadays the average worker drone has a computer and a bunch of Post-it notes. Still great for sleeping in, though, as long as you don't get caught.
Vocabulary lists containing cubicle
Boy: Tales of Childhood
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Marcus Vega Doesn't Speak Spanish
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Vocabulary Video Contest (2013) - List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
As imagined by director Travis Knight—best known for another toys-to-screen saga, 2018’s “Transformers” sequel “Bumblebee”—and a battalion of screenwriters, the new He-Man, lost prince from the planet Eternia, is a meek cubicle dweller named Adam.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 4, 2026
I opened it and found myself reading a familiar passage about the protagonist Winston Smith’s cubicle and the slot in the wall nicknamed the “memory hole.”
From Salon • May 31, 2026
Plus, why Phoenix’s empire of cubicle jobs is fading and how dads are scaling back at the office for kids and housework.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 28, 2026
Lau's cubicle is one of nine in a single unit, separated by thin wooden dividers, in a 60-year-old building in one of Hong Kong's poorest neighbourhoods, Sham Shui Po.
From Barron's • May 28, 2026
A porter led me to a tiny cubicle, showed me to a seat, and told me to wait.
From "The House of the Spirits: A Novel" by Isabel Allende
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
