kitchenette
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of kitchenette
Explanation
A kitchenette is a very small, scaled-down area for doing basic cooking and food preparation. If your fancy hotel suite has a kitchenette, you can make popcorn in the microwave. The suffix -ette is used as a diminutive, to mean "a small version," and that's just what a kitchenette is — a kitchen, but smaller. Sometimes a kitchenette is distinguished by its pint-sized appliances, like miniature refrigerators and narrow stovetops. It might also be missing certain standard elements of a kitchen, like a sink or a dishwasher. If you're staying in a hotel or living in a college dorm, a kitchenette can be all the kitchen you need.
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:
A small kitchenette installed on each floor cost nearly 8,000 euros, excluding appliances.
From Barron's ● Jul. 17, 2026
The building has a kitchenette, bedroom and bathroom.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 17, 2026
The new proposal is for much larger structures of 160 to 226 square feet, each with a bathroom and kitchenette containing a refrigerator, microwave and sink.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
It added: “Awe-inspiring features abound, including eight spacious en-suite bedrooms with beautifully appointed baths, a guest house complete with a kitchenette, and an intricately paneled study featuring a warm fireplace.”
From MarketWatch ● Mar. 18, 2026
I check through the refrigerator in the kitchenette, dig out an egg, boil it, dump it into a teacup, mush it up.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
The Detroit building had elevated Legionella levels in its rooftop cooling tower, kitchenettes and a holding facility.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
Hacienda del Sol, 610 Palm Canyon Drive, open but still under renovation, currently offers six motor-lodge rooms and six “casita” units with kitchenettes, as well as a heated 40-foot swimming pool.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 5, 2023
They cram into rooms, some with small refrigerators and 6-foot-wide kitchens, or even just microwave kitchenettes.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 2022
It had a greengrocer and several small shops, offering easy access to basics for our apartment kitchenettes, and it was just a 10-minute tram ride into the heart of Florence.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 23, 2022
Kitchens and kitchenettes take on new life, and issue grateful odors of coffee and bacon.
From The Circus, and Other Essays and Fugitive Pieces by Kilmer, Joyce
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.
