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
A houseplant adds color and makes a space feel more homey without making any drastic changes to any of the walls.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 12, 2025
A woman left bed-bound and unable to leave the house because of long Covid has rediscovered her passion for life by setting up a houseplant business.
From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2024
If you have one as a houseplant, don’t leave it outside since it can escape its pot if you turn your back.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 3, 2024
Instead, I name my spiky friend and display him on my dresser, like a houseplant or oversized pet rock.
From "South of Somewhere" by Kalena Miller
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.
