coffee table
Americannoun
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.
On the coffee table lay a large format book titled “The World’s Most Beautiful Paintings,” or something similar.
From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026
Some have since been worked into functional items, with his giant tape measure becoming a coffee table and a big plug turned into a cupboard.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 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
The host took umbrage and digitally manipulated photos to show damage to the property, including a large crack in a coffee table, claiming the guest had caused more than $15,000 in damage.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 3, 2026
As soon as I walked through the door, I set the vase down on the coffee table in the hallway to the left of the front door and turned around to hug Mamá tightly.
From "Summer of the Mariposas" by Guadalupe García McCall
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.
