‘卧室’ (wò shì) literally means ‘lying-down room’ — 卧 (wò) means ‘to lie down’ or ‘to rest’, and 室 (shì) means ‘room’ or ‘chamber’. Together, they form the standard, neutral term for a bedroom: a private room primarily used for sleeping and personal rest. It’s commonly used in daily conversation, real estate listings, interior design contexts, and official documents.

This word is more formal and precise than colloquial alternatives like 房间 (fáng jiān, ‘room’) or 睡觉的地方 (shuì jiào de dì fang, ‘place to sleep’). It appears frequently in compound terms such as 主卧室 (zhǔ wò shì, ‘master bedroom’) and 次卧室 (cì wò shì, ‘secondary bedroom’). Unlike some homonyms, 卧室 has no figurative or idiomatic extensions — it refers strictly to a functional living space designated for rest and sleep.