armchair

Alternative forms

• arm-chair

Etymology

From arm +‎ chair

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈɑː(ɹ)mtʃɛə(ɹ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈɑɹmtʃɛɚ/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

armchair (plural armchairs)

1. A chair with supports for the arms or elbows.
   • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 12, in The Mirror and the Lamp‎:

     There were many wooden chairs for the bulk of his visitors, and two wicker armchairs with red cloth cushions for superior people. From the packing-cases had emerged some Indian clubs, […], and all these articles […] made a scattered and untidy decoration that Mrs. Clough assiduously dusted and greatly cherished.

   • 1928, A. A. Milne, The House at Pooh Corner:

     […] when he suddenly saw Piglet sitting in his best armchair he could only stand there rubbing his head and wondering whose house he was in.

Adjective

armchair (comparative more armchair, superlative most armchair)

1. (figuratively) Remote from actual involvement, including a person retired from previously active involvement.

   These days I'm an armchair detective.

2. (figuratively) Unqualified or uninformed but yet giving advice, especially on technical issues, such as law, architecture, medicine, military theory, or sports.

   He's just an armchair lawyer who thinks he knows a lot about the law because he reads a legal blog on the internet.

   After the American football game, the armchair quarterbacks talked about what they would have done differently to win, if they had been star athletes instead of out-of-shape old men.