What does upholstery mean?
Word: Upholstery
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Upholstery means the soft covering, padding and springs that make a sofa or chair comfortable.
How do you spell upholstery?
Syllables: up - hol - ster - y
Tricky part: An l slips in after the o and is barely heard, so many pupils leave it out.
Watch out for: uphostery, upostery, upolstery
Memory tip: Soft seats hold you up, so keep the l of hold.
Upholstery in a sentence
Example 1: Cat hair clings to the upholstery of our sofa.
Example 2: The upholstery in the old cinema was red velvet.
Example 3: My aunt chose a bright floral upholstery for her dining chairs.
Fun Fact
The word grew out of an old trade. In older English an upholder was a person who kept furniture and other goods in repair, holding them up, you might say.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Cookie
Insert the correct pair of letters to form a word:
upholst_r_
a) e, y
b) a, y
c) e, i
d) o, y
Show answer
a) e, y. The ending is the same as in pottery.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The two brothers who run the furniture shop near our school replaced the upholsterry on all the staff room chairs.
a) replaced
b) brothers
c) furniture
d) upholsterry
Show answer
d) upholsterry. Drop one r and the spelling is right.
Mingle-Mangle
The sentence contains a jumbled word. Choose the word it hides:
The car's worn uryhtspeol was replaced with soft grey fabric last week.
a) upholstery
b) upheaval
c) pottery
d) hosiery
Show answer
a) upholstery. Ten letters with a u, an l and an s: upheaval has no s, hosiery no u and pottery no s.
Spell-o-Spell
Three words in the list are spelt correctly and one is misspelt. Choose the meaning of the misspelt word.
1. cushion 2. curtian 3. upholstery 4. mattress
a) a large soft pad to sleep on
b) a soft pad to sit or lean against
c) the materials that pad and cover a settee
d) a piece of cloth hung at a window
Show answer
d) a piece of cloth hung at a window. Curtain has its a before the i, the reverse of what the list shows.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. A worker who repairs upholstery would most likely spend her day with
a) bricks, sand and cement
b) foam, fabric and strong thread
c) wires, bulbs and switches
d) pipes, taps and washers
Show answer
b) foam, fabric and strong thread
2. Juice spills on the back seat of a car. What should you do first to protect the upholstery?
a) blot the seat with a clean cloth
b) wipe the windscreen until it is dry
c) check the oil level in the engine
d) pump up the rear tyres again
Show answer
a) blot the seat with a clean cloth
