upholstery
Americannoun
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the materials used to cushion and cover furniture.
-
the business of an upholsterer.
noun
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the padding, covering, etc, of a piece of furniture
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the business, work, or craft of upholstering
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of upholstery
First recorded in 1640–50; upholster(er) + -y 3
Explanation
Upholstery refers to the covering on furniture. Without upholstery, your couch wouldn't be very comfortable. This is a word specific to furniture, especially the chairs and couches found in most living rooms. Upholstery consists of the material — including springs, padding, and fabric — that cover the bare bones of the furniture you sit on. If you have ever spilled a drink on a couch, someone might have yelled, "Watch out! You'll stain the upholstery!" People who put the upholstery on furniture are called upholsterers.
Vocabulary lists containing upholstery
"The Veldt" by Ray Bradbury
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After the Shot Drops
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The Red Pyramid
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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:
In this case, with damage to the interior of the car, insurance companies won’t just pay to repair the upholstery, they will pay to replace the entire seat, which is expensive.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 18, 2026
Long before its buttery aroma seeped into the upholstery of American theaters, the snack lived a humbler life.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 13, 2026
Jenner chose a similar shade for the upholstery in her home theater, revealing two rows of brown velvet chairs that she described as “yummy” in her caption.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 30, 2025
The only thing we did was replace the upholstery because it was rotted out.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 21, 2025
The ladies buying upholstery fabric agreed and attacked my quilting display.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
Textured fabrics and upholsteries in calming, neutral tones complement sleek, dark wood furniture and brushed stainless steel hardware throughout.
From Time Magazine Archive
There are no fussy woods or sensitive upholsteries.
From Time Magazine Archive
Only the red upholsteries there were hideous; she would alter all that.
From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Zola, Émile
Nevertheless, the big chair with the red silk upholsteries in which the countess sat had attracted his attention.
From Four Short Stories By Emile Zola by Zola, Émile
And it must be owned the light, in this explosion of all the upholsteries, and the human fine arts and coarse, was magical; and made your fair one an Armida,—if you liked her better so.
From The International Monthly Magazine, Volume 5, No. 1, January, 1852 by Various
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.
