parlor

American  

[pahr-ler] / ˈpɑr lər /

especially British, parlour

noun

1. Older Use. a room for the reception and entertainment of visitors to one's home; living room.

2. a room, apartment, or building serving as a place of business for certain businesses or professions.

   funeral parlor; beauty parlor.

3. a somewhat private room in a hotel, club, or the like for relaxation, conversation, etc.; lounge.

4. Also called locutorium.  a room in a monastery or the like where the inhabitants may converse with visitors or with each other.

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adjective

1. advocating something, as a political view or doctrine, at a safe remove from actual involvement in or commitment to action.

   parlor leftism; parlor pink.

Etymology

Origin of parlor

1175–1225; Middle English parlur < Anglo-French; Old French parleor, equivalent to parl ( er ) to speak ( parle ) + -eor -or ²

Example Sentences

The fatherly proprietor of a Times Square ping-pong parlor where Marty trains?

From The Wall Street Journal

There she ran a tattoo parlor that locals said stayed open late in the evening, Russian state media reported.

From The Wall Street Journal

Noticing patterns, he placed his first stock trade the following year in a bucket shop—more a gambling parlor than a brokerage.

From The Wall Street Journal

But unlike many aspects of AI that are truly transformational, the humanoid fascination will ultimately prove to be a parlor trick with few practical applications.

From The Wall Street Journal

The fact that it was a parlor game, not pointillism, that inspired the lyric is proof of Sondheim’s credo that “playful doesn’t mean trivial any more than solemn means serious.”

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• drawing room
• living room
• lounge
• salon