garret
1 Americannoun
noun
noun
Other Word Forms
- garreted adjective
Etymology
Origin of garret1
1300–50; Middle English garite watchtower < Old French garite, guerite watchtower, derivative of garir, guarir to defend, protect; see garrison
Origin of garret2
First recorded in 1835–45; of uncertain origin
Explanation
A garret is a room at the very top of a house, just underneath the roof. If you don't have enough money to rent a proper room, you might be able to rent a garret. Garret comes from the old French word guerite, which means "watchtower" or "sentry box." These days, a garret has nothing to do with war; it simply means the little room at the very top of a building, which is also called an attic. The idea of living in a garret is romantically associated with being a starving artist — great if you don't mind hunger and stooping over all the time because the roof is so low.
Vocabulary lists containing garret
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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.
In central Paris, a thousand vulnerable people living in top-floor, garret apartments died because the city’s famous heat-absorbing zinc roofs turned their uninsulated homes into ovens.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 30, 2023
In May 1976, Rybakov’s close friend, dissident artist Yevgeny Rukhin, died in a fire in his garret studio in St. Petersburg, where he was meeting with friends.
From Washington Post • Dec. 23, 2022
The romantic image of the writer in the garret doesn't do justice to the tedious reality of churning out words, one after another.
From Salon • Oct. 23, 2022
Our little garret had a great view, but confronting six flights of stairs after walking around Paris all day wasn’t fun.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 25, 2022
Mrs. Fairfax stayed behind a moment to fasten the trap-door; I, by dint of groping, found the outlet from the attic, and proceeded to descend the narrow garret staircase.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
