coffee-table book

American

[kaw-fee tey-buhl, kof-ee-] / ˈkɔ fi ˌteɪ bəl, ˈkɒf i- /

noun

an oversize, expensive, and usually illustrated book suitable for displaying, as on a coffee table.

coffee-table book British

noun

a book designed to be looked at rather than read

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of coffee-table book

First recorded in 1960–65

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.

This coffee-table book takes Louis Vuitton superfans on a non-chronological trip through the archives, collaborations, window displays, movie moments and fashion designers in its monogrammed universe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 28, 2025

The guitar now has a prominent place in a new book dedicated to the Metallica guitarist’s stockpile of instruments, “The Collection: Kirk Hammett,” a 400-page coffee-table book from Gibson Publishing.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 2, 2025

We made a new calendar for 2025 and have plans for what could be our magnum opus: a coffee-table book.

From Slate • Feb. 4, 2025

Mr Msimang’s house is furnished with tributes to the ANC’s iconic former leader – a life-size painting of Nelson Mandela, a coffee-table book bearing his name.

From BBC • Jun. 2, 2024

She gets up late, paints her nails, lies in the sun, and stares at pictures of African landscapes in a big coffee-table book.

From "We Were Liars" by E. Lockhart

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023