lounge
Americanverb (used without object)
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lounges,
present (3rd person singular)
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lounged,
past participle, past
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lounging
present participle
verb (used with object)
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lounges,
present (3rd person singular)
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lounged,
past participle, past
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lounging
present participle
noun
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lounges
plural
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a sofa for reclining, sometimes backless, having a headrest at one end.
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a place for sitting, waiting, smoking, etc., especially a large public room, as in a hotel, theater, or air terminal, often with adjoining washrooms.
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a section on a train, plane, or ship having various club or social facilities.
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Archaic. the act or a period of lounging.
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Archaic. a lounging gait.
verb
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(intr; often foll by about or around) to sit, lie, walk, or stand in a relaxed manner
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to pass (time) lazily or idly
noun
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a communal room in a hotel, ship, theatre, etc, used for waiting or relaxing in
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( as modifier )
lounge chair
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a living room in a private house
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Also called: lounge bar. saloon bar. a more expensive bar in a pub or hotel
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an expensive bar, esp in a hotel
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short for cocktail lounge
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a sofa or couch, esp one with a headrest and no back
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the act or an instance of lounging
Synonym Usage
Lounge, loll, laze, and loaf can all be used to mean “to pass time idly.” But lounge implies a leaning or reclining posture, and an experience of comfort, relaxation, and enjoyment: When he was home, he preferred to lounge in his easy chair and watch TV. Loll also conveys a leaning posture: Visitors can loll on the grass in beanbag chairs or loungers. Laze suggests no particular posture, but a relaxed indulgence, as in We spent the summer swimming, surfing, and lazing under the sun, while loaf is sometimes used to convey idle wastefulness: I spent all of Sunday just loafing around the house.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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loungesimple
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loungessimple
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have loungedperfect
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has loungedperfect
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am loungingprogressive
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are loungingprogressive
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is loungingprogressive
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have been loungingperfect progressive
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has been loungingperfect progressive
Past
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loungedsimple
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had loungedperfect
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was loungingprogressive
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were loungingprogressive
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had been loungingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of lounge
First recorded in 1500–10; origin uncertain
Explanation
It's hard to lounge, or recline comfortably, in the lounge, or waiting area, of an airport terminal. Maybe they shouldn't call it a lounge. Lounge comes from the French s'allonger meaning "to lounge about, lie at full length." Whether you're talking about a room with seats in a hotel made for waiting, or a nice comfy sofa, or the act of reclining comfortably, lounge has everything to do with making yourself comfortable in one spot for a while. It also means to hang around in an easy way, the way you might lounge around the poolside area in a luxury hotel.
Vocabulary lists containing lounge
Greetings, World Traveler! — List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
30 Great Words from Speak, by Laurie Halse Anderson
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"The Death of the Hired Man" by Robert Frost
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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.
See Examples For:
"When you're sitting in the lounge, you can actually see it there."
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
Besides a seat, the package includes access to a shared lounge space, a welcome drink, an L.A.-inspired food item and entry to a hospitality pavilion before or after the selected session.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
The Alaska agent directed me to a lounge closer to my gate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
The other lounge, Prima Vista, had a long wait when I walked past.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Then the doors of the lift would open upon Mrs. Van Hopper and I would cross the lounge to meet her, and he would stroll back again to his corner and pick up a paper.
From "Rebecca" by Daphne du Maurier
Southwest executives spent months visiting lounges to figure out what works and how to avoid potential pitfalls.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
More detailed data, including vehicle registrations, came from people booking car-park spaces, arranging access to lounges, and booking fast-track.
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
The lounges were ranked on eight factors: value; staff; food and beverage; cleanliness/upkeep; amenities; ease of access; ambiance and Wi-Fi.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026
In the Olympic hospitality pecking order, the premium lounges beat the leisure lounges and the hospitality pavilions, which provide shared havens for followers of multiple sports.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
Others came as work crews from Coxsackie to vacuum and dust the lounges or clean up the filthy rest rooms.
From "Newjack: Guarding Sing Sing" by Ted Conover
Godzilla the rescue Sulcata tortoise lounged in a tidy shaded yard.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 2, 2026
A video tour of the sanctuary posted in 2023 showed horses grazing and galloping across a vast expanse of the 40-acre property in Julian and a cattery where felines lounged in cat condos.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2026
In place of sun-worshiping fans camped out on makeshift bleachers, parents lounged on cushioned seats as kids nestled beside them balancing chicken wings and pizzas on their laps.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 12, 2025
The normally bustling border crossing of Kasumulu remained noticeably quieter than usual with drivers seen relaxing in the shade of trees, while others played draughts or lounged in the back of their lorries.
From BBC ● Apr. 25, 2025
Farid, however, looked much the same as the boys who lounged around on the beach nudging one another when girls passed by.
From "Inkheart" by Cornelia Funke
He often sets off alarms, he said, to scare people from lounging on his property, which sits about 50 feet from a public beach.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 9, 2026
My earliest memories of the one-pot dish are of rainy days spent either lounging on the couch or under the sheets.
From Salon ● Jun. 7, 2026
The Pasadena community was on high alert Friday after a mountain lion was spotted lounging near an elementary and middle school and a packed graduation ceremony, officials said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 6, 2026
As I ambled past groups doing yoga and vacationing families lounging on the grass, pain started to radiate through my ankles and up my shinbones before settling uncomfortably in my hips.
From Slate ● Jun. 5, 2026
I mean I’m sitting here lounging; he’s practically dying out there.
From "It’s Kind of a Funny Story" by Ned Vizzini
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.
