coffee-table book

[kaw-fee tey-buh l, kof-ee-]

noun

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

Origin of coffee-table book

First recorded in 1960–65

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for coffee-table book

coffee-table book

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