living room

American  

noun

1. a room in a home used, especially by a family, for leisure activities, entertaining guests, etc.; parlor.

2. Lebensraum.

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living room British  

noun

1. a room in a private house or flat used for relaxation and entertainment of guests

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Etymology

Origin of living room

First recorded in 1815–25

Compare meaning

How does living-room compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• great room vs. living room

Example Sentences

In their hands “Antigone” is sometimes relocated, as in Alexander Zeldin’s Sophocles-inspired “The Other Place,” to an ordinary living room.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 6, 2026

Your TV and smartphone are far more interoperable and indistinguishable than ever before, and an inescapable user-tracking singularity is developing, accordingly, in your own living room.

From Slate • May 3, 2026

The court heard Holder had fallen asleep on the woman's bed while his friend took up the sofa in her living room, so she slept on the floor.

From BBC • May 1, 2026

Upon entering the home, guests are greeted with an expansive living room complete with soaring ceilings and “oversized picture windows.”

From MarketWatch • Apr. 28, 2026

I avoided the eyes of the guards along the route, guilty as a well-trained dog discovered on the living room sofa.

From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom

Related Words

• drawing room
• parlor
• salon
• sitting room