foyer
Americannoun
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foyers
plural
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the lobby of a theater, hotel, or apartment house.
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a vestibule or entrance hall in a house or apartment.
noun
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a hall, lobby, or anteroom, used for reception and as a meeting place, as in a hotel, theatre, cinema, etc
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(in Britain) a centre providing accommodation and employment training, etc. for homeless young people
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of foyer
1855–60; < French: fireplace, hearth (originally a room to which theater audiences went for warmth between the acts) < Gallo-Latin *focārium, equivalent to Latin foc ( us ) hearth ( cf. focus) + -ārium -arium
Explanation
A foyer is a large entrance, like the foyer of a building that you enter before you reach the elevators. Sometimes a foyer is also called a "lobby." Foyer originally was a term in French that referred to the room where actors waited when they were not on stage. Today, a foyer is a large entrance to a building or home. The bigger and fancier a mansion, office or apartment building is, the bigger and more ornate the foyer will likely be. After all, the foyer will be the first room that visitors see when entering.
Vocabulary lists containing foyer
The Catcher in the Rye
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10 Words that Inspired Taylor Swift
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100 SAT Words Beginning with "F"
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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.
See Examples For:
The 300-year-old building was converted into an 82-seat theatre, with surrounding corridors used to create a foyer and backstage area.
From BBC ● Jun. 16, 2026
The Palm Room foyer was decked in marble and chandeliers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 8, 2026
Clusters of waiting patrons spilled from the foyer onto the front patio.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 23, 2026
Each Sunday afternoon, after a Spanish-language service, lawyers, translators and parishioners gather in the basement foyer to help families navigate the immigration system.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 23, 2026
Ophie ran down the stairs quickly, and when she reached the bottom, she was surprised to see the old ghost from the study standing in the middle of the foyer.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
People are going to cinemas now, and at the end people stand up and applaud and talk about the movie in the foyers.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 17, 2024
In cities including Chicago, New York and Denver, migrants who have no access to work permits sleep in police station foyers and in airports.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024
Those words greet audiences on posters on the doors of Manchester's Palace Theatre, and inside the foyers.
From BBC ● Apr. 9, 2023
Features: The houses have covered entries, two-story foyers and formal dining rooms.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 6, 2021
These buildings have elevators in them, and wide foyers with plants, and are called things like The Monte Carlo.
From "Cat's Eye" by Margaret Atwood
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.
