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Synonyms

reception room

American  

noun

  1. a room for receiving visitors, clients, patients, etc.

reception room British  

noun

  1. a room in a private house suitable for entertaining guests, esp a lounge or dining room

  2. a room in a hotel suitable for large parties, receptions, etc

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of reception room

First recorded in 1820–30

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.

On the ground floor, next to their 4-year-old grandson’s toy cars, is a reception room with a wooden door.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 12, 2026

One of the screens can "within an hour" be turned into a reception room able to host up to 200 people.

From Barron's • Nov. 29, 2025

There Ms Coker was met by "three young teenage girls sitting in the reception room with nurses' uniforms on".

From BBC • Jul. 14, 2025

Hours after Dominguez was arraigned, hundreds of relatives and friends of Najm gathered in a reception room on the UC Davis campus to celebrate his life.

From Los Angeles Times • May 5, 2023

After all, he saw her at church every Sunday after services pouring tea and coffee in the reception room.

From "Snow Falling on Cedars: A Novel" by David Guterson

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.