Meanings
nouncouch potato (plural couch potatoes)
plural couch potatoes
- derogatoryidiomaticA person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching television, eating snacks or drinking alcohol.First known use 1976
Bah! What lesson can a couch potato father teach his kids!
1 more example
Being a couch potato won't let you help achieve your goals.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
From couch + potato; coined by Tom Iacino in 1976 as a pun on boob tuber (from boob tube (“television”) and tuber (“potato”)); trademarked by Robert Armstrong from 1976–91.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans sofapokkel
- sofapokkelperson
Arabic خَامِل
- خَامِل (ḵāmil)person
Czech pecivál, gaučák
- peciválperson
- gaučákperson
Dutch bankhanger
- bankhangerperson
Finnish sohvaperuna
- sohvaperunaperson
French avachi, légume
- avachiperson
- légumeperson
- pantouflardperson
- télézardperson
German Nichtstuer, Stubenhocker
- Nichtstuerperson
- Stubenhockerperson
- Couchpotatoperson
Icelandic sófakartafla
- sófakartaflaperson
Italian divanista
- divanistaperson
Norwegian sofagris
- sofagrisperson
Polish kanapowy leń
- kanapowy leńperson
Russian лежебо́ка, си́день
- лежебо́ка (ležebóka)person
- си́день (sídenʹ)person
- лентя́й (lentjáj)person
- безде́льник (bezdélʹnik)person
- домосе́д (domoséd)person
Spanish casero
- caseroperson
Swedish soffliggare, soffpotatis
- soffliggareperson
- soffpotatisperson
Cite this entry
APA
couch potato. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/couch%20potato
MLA
“couch potato.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/couch%20potato. Accessed November 4, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “couch potato,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/couch%20potato.
Source: couch potato on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.