kitchenette
Americannoun
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of kitchenette
Explanation
A kitchenette is a very small, scaled-down area for doing basic cooking and food preparation. If your fancy hotel suite has a kitchenette, you can make popcorn in the microwave. The suffix -ette is used as a diminutive, to mean "a small version," and that's just what a kitchenette is — a kitchen, but smaller. Sometimes a kitchenette is distinguished by its pint-sized appliances, like miniature refrigerators and narrow stovetops. It might also be missing certain standard elements of a kitchen, like a sink or a dishwasher. If you're staying in a hotel or living in a college dorm, a kitchenette can be all the kitchen you need.
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:
“She’s both grandmother and co-parent to my children. To be able to give her the space that she deserves was important. She had her own entrance, her own living room and kitchenette area.”
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 30, 2026
The ADU has a roomy kitchenette with white cabinets and countertops, a compact air fryer-toaster oven from Our Place, and a slim retro-style refrigerator from Unique.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
Behind the scenes, Tesla engineers were working out of a kitchenette on campus.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 3, 2026
While a bit dated, the room had a kitchenette and a microwave, as well as a separate fridge from the minibar setup.
From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2025
She had already devoured the slightly stale loaf Molly had left in the kitchenette on the top floor of the cinema, their apartments, with a fistful of salt.
From "Night Owls" by A.R. Vishny
With features such as kitchenettes and expanded living spaces, extended-stay hotels are booming.
From New York Times ● Jan. 18, 2024
The Detroit building had elevated Legionella levels in its rooftop cooling tower, kitchenettes and a holding facility.
From Washington Times ● Sep. 21, 2023
They cram into rooms, some with small refrigerators and 6-foot-wide kitchens, or even just microwave kitchenettes.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 23, 2022
It had a greengrocer and several small shops, offering easy access to basics for our apartment kitchenettes, and it was just a 10-minute tram ride into the heart of Florence.
From Washington Post ● Jun. 23, 2022
I could not imagine myself cooking for this family in some of the tiny kitchenettes we saw.
From Betty Lee, Freshman by Grove, Harriet Pyne
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.
