Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tearoom

/ˈtiˌɹum/

Word Rarity Very rare

Frequency: 2.17 in modern English

Syllables: tea-room
IPA: /ˈtiˌɹum/

9

Scrabble Score

7

Letters

2

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A café which serves tea, usually with light food.

noun

A public lavatory.

Slang

noun

A public lavatory.

American usage; Dated; Slang

noun

A room in a workplace set aside for tea breaks, lunch breaks, snacking, etc; a break room.

Australian usage

Example Sentences

"At Rannoch, the platforms were rebuilt. Although the station tearoom couldn't be reached by rail during the closure, which started on October 5, it did help feed and sustain the workforce."
"I'm deathly afraid of the tearooms though, John. Some of my best friends have been entrapped and busted by the fuzz."
"I had run into Grant in a tea-room—The busy main floor crapper—a few months earlier."
"The euphemistically named "tea room" has been used in sexual subcultures among men who have sex with men (MSM) to describe public sex environments, usually public toilets, where men meet other men in sexual interaction... The term itself might be outdated..."

Etymology

From tea + room. In reference to a lavatory, probably as a variant of t-room (“toilet room”).

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈtiˌɹum/

Usage

Inflected Forms

tearooms (plural) tea room (alternative)

Synonyms

teahouse gingerbread office cottage beat bathroom latrine necessarium toilet toilet room urinal water closet WC

Questions

How do you pronounce tearoom?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtiˌɹum/.
What does tearoom mean?: A café which serves tea, usually with light food.
Where does tearoom come from?: From tea + room. In reference to a lavatory, probably as a variant of t-room (“toilet room”).

How to pronounce tearoom

Open the pronunciation page — Open the Speakur entry for “tearoom”.
Read the phonetic spelling — Read the IPA spelling (/ˈtiˌɹum/) so you know which sounds to aim for.
Play the audio — Click Play to hear reference audio for “tearoom”.
Repeat and practice — Say “tearoom” aloud, matching stress and vowels until it feels natural.