cubicle

American  

[kyoo-bi-kuhl] / ˈkju bɪ kəl /

noun

• cubicles
  plural

1. a small space or compartment partitioned off.

2. carrel.

3. a bedroom, especially one of a number of small ones in a divided dormitory, as in English public schools.

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cubicle British  

/ ˈkjuːbɪkəl /

noun

1. a partially or totally enclosed section of a room, as in a dormitory

2. an indoor construction designed to house individual cattle while allowing them free access to silage

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• cubicles
  plural

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

cubicle cubicles

"He was in a cubicle, he could have been looking at any child, not just mine. I can't get it out my head."

From BBC ● Jul. 17, 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

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

The Phoenix cubicle boom kicked off in the 1960s, when American Express opened a regional office here, said Philip VanderMeer, an emeritus history professor at Arizona State University.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 27, 2026

The window was uncovered and looked out at the beach and tall dark pines, and I had my own television and a huge bathroom with an ice-block shower cubicle.

From "Winger" by Andrew Smith

Even if cubicles were slightly more expensive to maintain or consumed more water, this would not necessarily be enough to justify a price difference compared with urinals, she added.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

But they also give eerie glimpses of conference rooms and cubicles unchanged since IBM left a decade ago, as if employees had fled the daily grind one day and never returned.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

The new rules do not apply to notorious "coffin homes", cubicles stacked on top of each other like bunk beds in shabby dormitories.

From Barron's ● May 28, 2026

The brightly coloured cubicles have floor-to-ceiling doors, and some have sinks inside.

From BBC ● May 21, 2026

If I ran a store like this I’d paint all the cubicles pink and put some money into the mirrors: whatever else women want to see, it’s not themselves; not in their worst light anyway.

From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood

Related Words

• booth
• cell
• chamber
• desk
• nook
• room
• stall