parlor

American  

[pahr-ler] / ˈpɑr lər /

especially British, parlour

noun

1. Older Use. a room for the reception and entertainment of visitors to one's home; living room.

2. a room, apartment, or building serving as a place of business for certain businesses or professions.

   funeral parlor; beauty parlor.

3. a somewhat private room in a hotel, club, or the like for relaxation, conversation, etc.; lounge.

4. Also called locutorium.  a room in a monastery or the like where the inhabitants may converse with visitors or with each other.

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adjective

1. advocating something, as a political view or doctrine, at a safe remove from actual involvement in or commitment to action.

   parlor leftism; parlor pink.

Etymology

Origin of parlor

1175–1225; Middle English parlur < Anglo-French; Old French parleor, equivalent to parl ( er ) to speak ( parle ) + -eor -or ²

Example Sentences

On the first floor, the front parlor, with its wooden wainscoting and classical door frames, is more elegant after conservation restored small details in the decorative moldings.

From The Wall Street Journal

Cascading revelations, pored over on X and Bluesky, have, in turn, become a parlor game of Choose Your Own Enemy.

From The Wall Street Journal

But he knows that, if a critic can’t draw enlightening connections, attribution is only a parlor game.

From The Wall Street Journal

Once a month or so I saw Mrs. Almeta Payne in our parlor, along with half a dozen other ladies from the church sewing circle.

From Literature

This was the era of the sentimental “parlor song,” of which the British song “The Lost Chord” is the sophisticated epitome.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• drawing room
• living room
• lounge
• salon