anteroom

American  

[an-tee-room, -room] / ˈæn tiˌrum, -ˌrʊm /

noun

1. a room that admits to a larger room.

2. a waiting room.

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anteroom British  

/ -ˌrʊm, ˈæntɪˌruːm /

noun

1. a room giving entrance to a larger room, often used as a waiting room

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Etymology

Origin of anteroom

First recorded in 1755–65; ante- + room

Explanation

An anteroom is a small room or entryway leading to a larger area. You might wait with a tour group in an anteroom before beginning your tour of a castle. You can use the word anteroom as a fancy, old-fashioned way to say "waiting room" or "vestibule." Museum visitors might pause in an anteroom before entering a large gallery, and the butler in an old movie might say, "Please wait in the anteroom." Another word for an anteroom is an antechamber — in fact the French root of both is antichambre, from the Latin anticamera, "room in front."

Example Sentences

One space, the first floor anteroom, is lined with red and gold silk, with centuries-old paintings hanging on the walls and an elaborately decorative fireplace standing beside a huge floor-to-ceiling window.

From BBC • Sep. 16, 2025

Elliott notes that a Picasso painting hangs in the anteroom to a prominent political family’s Washington, D.C. bathroom.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2025

The affidavit recounts how someone identified only as “Witness 5” was seen on multiple days carrying either cardboard or bankers’ boxes in and out of the anteroom.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 5, 2023

The censure prevents Ms. Zephyr from being admitted to the House floor, anteroom or gallery.

From Washington Times • May 1, 2023

The young lady who was in the backstage anteroom told me, “It sounded like an army had taken over. Somehow, I knew. I wouldn’t go and look. I wanted to remember him as he was.”

From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey

Related Words

• entrance
• foyer
• gallery
• hallway
• lobby
• room
• rotunda