boudoir
/ˈbuːdwɑː
/noun chiefly historical or humorous
A woman’s bedroom or small private room.The décor of ‘male’ and ‘female’ rooms was distinguished, with dark panelling prevalent in dining and billiard rooms, lighter plasterwork in drawing rooms, boudoirs, and bedrooms....
- In the tome, full of glamorous soft-focus pictures of the footballer, he waxes lyrical about the art of seduction, with fish his favourite weapon for luring girlfriends from the dining room to the boudoir.
- Alternatively, transform your living room into a bohemian boudoir: the Moulin Rouge nightclub, Paris.
Origin
Late 18th century: French, literally 'sulking-place', from bouder 'pout, sulk'.
Etymologically, a boudoir is a place where someone sulks. The word was adopted from French in the late 18th century, and literally means ‘sulking place’, from bouder ‘to sulk, pout’.