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Showing results for parlor game. Search instead for party+game.
Synonyms

parlor game

American  

noun

  1. any game usually played indoors, especially in the living room or parlor, as a word game or a quiz, requiring little or no physical activity.

Etymology

Origin of parlor game

First recorded in 1890–95

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.

The scene where the quartet plays their pre-wedding parlor game occurs about 25 minutes into Borgli’s film, and is ripe with instrumental, pre-twist subtext.

From Salon • Apr. 3, 2026

Don't call it the "Marty Supreme" effect: table tennis is a growing sport in the United States, in part because of a new professional league giving the parlor game an ultra-competitive edge.

From Barron's • Mar. 31, 2026

A favorite futurist parlor game involves estimating the percentage of online content currently generated by machines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 5, 2026

Projecting the future of economic growth is, unfortunately, more than a parlor game.

From Los Angeles Times • Oct. 10, 2023

Despite his first, the study of English literature seemed in retrospect an absorbing parlor game, and reading books and having opinions about them, the desirable adjunct to a civilized existence.

From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan

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.