doormat

D2O1O1R1M3A1T1
UK/ˈdɔːˌmæt/Canada, US/ˈdɔɹˌmæt/Australia/ˈdoːˌmæt/

noun

A coarse mat at the entrance to a house, upon which one wipes one's shoes.

“He's such a doormat, he lets everyone walk all over him.”

UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

noundoormat (plural doormats)

plural doormats

  1. A coarse mat at the entrance to a house, upon which one wipes one's shoes.

    Wipe your shoes on the doormat before you start plodding around in the house.

    2 more examples

    Mr. Simpson adds that the station at Stanmore appears practically unchanged from the time of its opening, even to the L.N.W.R. rubber doormat, which "shows no signs of wearing out."

    1942 September and October, “Notes and News: The Stanmore Branch”, in Railway Magazine, page 311

    Dimple glanced at an expensive-looking doormat with the words ‘LOSE THE SHOES’ woven into it and wondered why anyone would bother spending so much money on something people were going to wipe their feet on.

    2022, Candice Carty-Williams, People Person, Trapeze, pages 257–258
  2. derogatoryfigurativelySomeone who habitually yields to others' demands or mistreatment, failing to assert their own rights or interests.

    He's such a doormat, he lets everyone walk all over him.

    1 more example

    If you flipped through certain magazines at this time you could be forgiven for thinking that there was no right way to be a woman, only wrong ones — bimbo or frump, slut or prude, shrew or doormat.

    2022 March 31, Alexis Soloski, “Why the Sudden Urge to Reconsider Famous Women?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN

    Synonyms: bootlicker, simp

Synonyms & antonyms

nounSomeone who habitually yields to others' demands or mistreatment, failing to assert their own rights or interests.

More synonyms by meaning

nouna person who is physically weak and ineffectual

nouna mat placed outside an exterior door for wiping the shoes before entering

Broader

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*dʰwer-
  2. Proto-Germanic*durz
  3. Proto-West Germanic*dur
  4. Old Englishduru
  5. Middle Englishdore
  6. Englishdoor
  7. Old Englishmeatte
  8. Middle Englishmatte
  9. Englishmat
  10. Englishdoormat

From door + mat.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bengali পাপোষ
  • পাপোষ (papōś)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Bulgarian изтривалка
  • изтривалка (iztrivalka)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Catalan estoreta, fregapeus
  • estoretacoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • fregapeuscoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Chinese Cantonese 觀音兵 /观音兵
  • 觀音兵 /观音兵someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Chinese Mandarin 門墊 /门垫, 門口地墊 /门口地垫
  • 門墊 /门垫 (méndiàn)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • 門口地墊 /门口地垫 (ménkǒu dìdiàn)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • 擦腳墊 /擦脚垫 (cājiǎodiàn)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • 舔狗 (tiǎngǒu)someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Czech rohožka
  • rohožkacoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Danish dørmåtte, dørmåtte
  • dørmåttecoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • dørmåttesomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Dutch deurmat, voetveeg
  • deurmatcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • voetveegsomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
  • buklaafsomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Esperanto mato
  • matocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Finnish ovimatto, kynnysmatto
  • ovimattocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • kynnysmattocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • kynnysmattosomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
French paillasson, essuie-pieds
  • paillassoncoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • essuie-piedscoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • carpettesomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
  • paillassonsomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
German Fußmatte, Fußabstreifer
  • Fußmattecoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • Fußabstreifercoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • Fußabtretercoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • Fußabtretersomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Greek πατάκι
  • πατάκι (patáki)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Hebrew אסקופה נדרסת, אסקופה נדרסת
  • אסקופה נדרסתcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • אסקופה נדרסתcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • אַסְקֻפָּה נִדְרֶסֶת (asqupá nidréset)someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Hindi पायदान
  • पायदान (pāydān)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Hungarian lábtörlő, papucs
  • lábtörlőcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • papucssomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
  • lábtörlősomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Italian zerbino, stuoino
  • zerbinocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • stuoinocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • nettapiedicoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • stoinocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • zerbinosomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Japanese ドアマット, 靴拭き
  • ドアマット (doamatto)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • 靴拭き (kutsufuki)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • マット (matto)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Korean 호구
  • 호구 (hogu)someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Norwegian Bokmål dørmatte, dørmatte
  • dørmattecoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • dørmattesomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Polish wycieraczka, pantofel
  • wycieraczkacoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • pantofelsomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Portuguese capacho, capacho
  • capachocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • capachosomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Romanian preș
  • preșcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Russian полови́к, ко́врик
  • полови́к (polovík)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • ко́врик (kóvrik)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • цино́вка (cinóvka)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • тря́пка (trjápka)someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
  • терпила (terpila)someone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Spanish felpudo
  • felpudocoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Swedish dörrmatta, dörrmatta
  • dörrmattacoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • dörrmattasomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Tagalog kuskusan ng paa
  • kuskusan ng paacoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Tamil கால்மிதி
  • கால்மிதி (kālmiti)coarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Thai พรมเช็ดเท้า, พรมเช็ดเท้า
  • พรมเช็ดเท้าcoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
  • พรมเช็ดเท้าsomeone that is over-submissive to other's wishes
Turkish paspas
  • paspascoarse mat that appears at the entrance to a house
Cite this entry
APA

doormat. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doormat

MLA

“doormat.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doormat. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “doormat,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/doormat.

Source: doormat on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.