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Glite Dictionary
banquette

banquette

4 8.2
A long bench with soft padding that sits against a wall for people to sit on, often in a restaurant
  • noun
  • /bæŋˈkɛt/
translation icon : banqueta
  • The restaurant featured a cozy banquette against the wall where guests could comfortably enjoy their meals.
  • a plush banquette

I remember I was high that night and I sit down back in a banquette with him and he says, hey, this bouncer just tried to shake me down for money.

Examples

  • There were banquette tables set up throughout the Plaza ballroom.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • Small tables were surrounded by leather banquettes, and a row of stools stood along a padded bar.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • One set was next to the couch, the other near the banquette.

    Fiction book (2001)

  • And then this lighting curves up behind the banquette and around the ceiling.

  • Tony shifted on the white terrycloth of the banquette.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Geneen leaned back on the banquette for the first time since sitting down.

    Academic text (1991)

  • Tommy and Henry are seated on the outside of a U-shaped banquette with their two girls, Diane and Karen, seated inside.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Banquettes are clustered around a stainless steel sculpture in the center of the room.

    Fiction book (2000)

  • The maître d' seats them side by side on a banquette.

    Fiction book (1990)

  • Sunday-painter oil paintings of provincial France hung in gold frames on the walls above the banquettes; a kitchen tucked in the back.

    Academic text (1990)

Synonyms

seat
vsbanquette
∞ 1.0

The part of a chair or bench that you sit on

is a long upholstered bench placed against walls in dining areas
settee
vsbanquette
9 3.9

A long seat with a back for two or more people, like a small sofa

is fixed against a wall and used mainly in restaurants

How Comfortable

sofa
257 1.0
armchair
42 1.0
banquette
4 8.2
bench
210 1.0
stool
95 1.0

Surface Forms

banquette singular
banquettes plural

Etymology

Banquette comes from the French word banque meaning 'bench' plus the small ending -ette meaning 'small'. So a banquette is literally a 'small bench', which helps explain why the word means the long, cushioned bench you often see against a wall in cafés and restaurants.