houseplant
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of houseplant
Explanation
A houseplant is a green, living thing you keep indoors. Your Boston fern, giant ficus, and Christmas cactus are all houseplants. If there are plants inside your house, they're houseplants, though you could also call them "potted plants" or "indoor plants." Most houseplants are tropical or semitropical, and if you live somewhere that gets colder during the winter, they need to be inside where it's warm. During the summer, some houseplants thrive on the patio or in the yard, but you'll need to bring them back into your house when the nights get cool.
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.
It is also a popular houseplant often given as a gift.
From Science Daily • May 14, 2026
She and her family lost their garage and part of their yard in the fire and in the weeks that followed, she made a point of purchasing a small houseplant for herself at Trader Joe’s.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 6, 2025
Students at Glasgow university can attend houseplant sales and a charity shop crawl during their "Welcome Week" while Edinburgh is hosting a video games night and an anxiety management workshop.
From BBC • Sep. 19, 2024
A roll of toilet paper, a houseplant, or a kosher dill spear will do.
From New York Times • Dec. 15, 2023
It was his houseplant, hopeful green leaves rising from three bamboo stems, and when she took it, a sudden crushing loneliness lanced through her and stayed with her for weeks.
From "Americanah" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
