boudoir

Everyday

1. (old-fashioned) A lady's small private sitting room or dressing room. tree →
2. (literary) A pretty, private bedroom. tree →

In the lessons

An old word from French, met in Victorian and Edwardian stories and in grand houses, where a rich lady had her boudoir to write letters, dress and rest. It tells the reader the house is wealthy and old-fashioned.

Examples

• The duchess received her friends in her boudoir. tree →
• The boudoir had pink curtains and a little writing desk. tree →
• In the old house we saw the lady's boudoir with its mirror and chair. tree →
• The maid brought tea up to her mistress's boudoir. tree →
• The story says the queen sat sulking in her boudoir. tree →
• Today most people would just say «bedroom» or «sitting room». tree →
• Hereupon he wandered into a boudoir formed entirely of mirrors, like the one in Castle Rosenburg; but here the glasses magnified to an astonishing degree. tree →

Note

Borrowed from French; the «oir» sounds like «wah». Countable: a boudoir, two boudoirs. It is old-fashioned; do not use it for an ordinary modern bedroom except as a joke.