coffee table
Americannoun
-
coffee tables
plural
noun
-
a low table, on which newspapers, etc, may be placed and coffee served
-
(modifier) implying an emphasis on appearance and style over substance
coffee-table music
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of coffee table
First recorded in 1875–80
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.
When did you last buy a hardback and what was it – a cookbook, a coffee table book or fiction?
From BBC ● May 24, 2026
On the coffee table lay a large format book titled “The World’s Most Beautiful Paintings,” or something similar.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
Not having a dining room isn’t a problem because there’s a welcoming patio just outside the French doors, with two chairs, a couch and a coffee table.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
On a notebook on her coffee table, she wrote Cynthia Renee Ortiz, doodling hearts around her prospective married name.
From Slate ● Apr. 6, 2026
By the end of the show, my notebook lay open on the coffee table filled with notes and sketches.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
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.
