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cocktail lounge

cocktail lounge

3 3.3
A bar in a hotel or restaurant that serves mixed drinks in a relaxed, stylish place
  • noun
  • /ˈkɒk.teɪl laʊndʒ/
  • US
translation icon : salón de cócteles
  • The hotel's cocktail lounge offers a wide variety of drinks and a cozy atmosphere.
  • restaurants and cocktail lounges
  • bars and cocktail lounges
  • cocktail lounges and nightclubs

Examples

  • You can relax and enjoy a drink in the stylish cocktail lounge after a long day.

  • Look for me downstairs in the cocktail lounge!

  • You know, you can meet a lot of interesting people in a cocktail lounge.

  • Well, I'll either be in the cocktail lounge...

  • I was upset at having to leave the cocktail lounge before our friends had ordered their drinks.

    Fiction book (1999)
  • If there's a cocktail lounge, we ought to work that first.

  • There were steps from the sidewalk leading into a cocktail lounge.

    Fiction book (1996)
  • That afternoon, while Jolene was at the hairdresser's, Harry went to a cocktail lounge.

    Fiction book (1991)
  • Also in the valley, Yosemite Lodge has a few gift shops, a cafeteria, a nicer restaurant, and a cocktail lounge.

    Academic text (1994)
  • We take a window table in the cocktail lounge with a view of white and beige buildings with red and orange roofs stretching all the way to the tree line north of Montana.

    Fiction book (1994)

Synonyms

bar
vscocktail lounge
1.0

A place where people buy and drink alcoholic drinks

is more focused on mixed drinks and a stylish hotel or restaurant setting
lounge
vscocktail lounge
214 2.3

A room in a hotel or airport with comfortable seats to relax

is mainly for serving drinks and socializing rather than just waiting or relaxing
tavern
vscocktail lounge
111 3.5

A place where people drink alcoholic drinks and often eat, like a bar

is more contemporary and designed for stylish hotel or restaurant environments
saloon
vscocktail lounge
75 5.8

A place where people drink alcohol and talk

is more stylish and located in hotels or restaurants rather than old public houses
watering hole
vscocktail lounge
  • Informal
16 3.4

A bar or pub where people meet to drink and talk

is more formal and stylish, usually inside hotels or restaurants
barroom
vscocktail lounge
  • US
14 4.0

A room where people drink alcohol at a counter

is more about comfortable seating and a stylish atmosphere than simple counter service
cantina
vscocktail lounge
  • US
13 3.9

A small bar or restaurant that serves drinks and simple food

is more polished and aimed at an elegant hotel or restaurant crowd
taproom
vscocktail lounge
2 5.6

A room in a brewery or bar where people buy and drink beer at the counter

is focused on seated service and refined drink presentation rather than counter service
taverna
vscocktail lounge
1 6.2

A small restaurant or bar in Mediterranean countries that serves traditional food and drinks

is not region specific and focuses on stylish hotel or restaurant drinking spaces
boozer
vscocktail lounge
  • Slang
1 8.1

A pub or bar where people go to drink

is more formal and stylish, used in hotel or restaurant settings

How Stylish

upscale
66 5.5
cocktail lounge
  • US
3 3.3
bar
1.0
pub
  • UK
155 1.0
dive
  • Slang
34 7.9

Surface Forms

Morphology

cocktail + lounge

The meaning is directly derivable from combining 'cocktail' (an alcoholic mixed drink) with 'lounge' (a public room for relaxing/waiting): it denotes a lounge where cocktails are served. This noun–noun compound follows a common compositional pattern found cross‑linguistically, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

The compound cocktail lounge comes from the words cocktail, meaning a mixed alcoholic 'drink', and lounge, meaning a 'room' to rest and relax. That image of a comfortable room where people sit and sip mixed drinks explains why it now means 'a bar in a hotel or restaurant where cocktails are served and people relax'.