drawing room

noun

1. a formal reception room, especially in an apartment or private house.
2. (in a railroad car) a private room for two or three passengers.
3. British. a formal reception, especially at court.

drawing room

noun

1. a room where visitors are received and entertained; living room; sitting room
2. archaic.
   a ceremonial or formal reception, esp at court

Other Words From

• drawing-room adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of drawing room¹

First recorded in 1635–45; as shortening of now obsolete withdrawing room

Example Sentences

Soon, we squeezed into the drawing room of the first minister's official residence, Bute House, to watch Salmond announce his resignation as leader of the devolved government which he had run since 2007, and of the Scottish National Party, which he had dominated for far longer.

From BBC

We crept into the drawing room on all fours, not easy in these skirts.

From Literature

Sunlight—pale, watery English sunlight—fell, almost unseen, across Princess Louise’s personal drawing room.

From Literature

Recalling the meeting, Ms Truss writes in her memoir that the monarch was "standing up as she greeted me in her drawing room".

From BBC

But when science writers dismiss robustly-debated philosophical theories this way — like panpsychism, one well-known theory about the possible nature of subjective consciousness even in inanimate objects — they look less like erudite champions of empirical truth, and more like a Victorian drawing room full of phrenologists scoffing at William James’ notions of psychology while proclaiming that “there isn't a single head-bump of evidence to support this theory.”

From Salon

Related Words

• parlor
• reception room