upholster

U1P3H4O1L1S1T1E1R1
UK/əˈpɒl.stə(ɹ)/UK/əˈpɐl.stə(ɹ)/

verb

To fit padding, stuffing, springs, webbing and fabric covering to (furniture).

OriginMiddle English upholdester →
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Meanings

upholster1

verbupholster (third-person singular simple present upholsters, present participle upholstering, simple past and past participle upholstered)

present singular third person upholsters · participle present upholstering · participle past upholstered · past upholstered

  1. transitiveTo fit padding, stuffing, springs, webbing and fabric covering to (furniture).

upholster2

nounupholster (plural upholsters)

plural upholsters · alternative upholdster

  1. archaicAn upholder, a dealer in secondhand furniture and clothes; an upholsterer; a tradesman who finishes furniture.

Origin

upholster · verb

  1. Middle Englishupholder“dealer in small goods”
  2. Middle Englishupholdester
  3. Englishupholster

Back-formation from upholsterer (“tradesman who finishes furniture”), from Middle English upholdester, variant of Middle English upholder (“dealer in small goods”), from upholden (“to repair, uphold”); equivalent to uphold + -ster. Sense development as well as form may have been influenced by conflation with unrelated bolster.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

upholster · noun

  1. Middle Englishupholdester
  2. Englishupholster

From Middle English upholdester, upholster; equivalent to uphold + -ster.

More words from Middle English

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Arabic مُنَجِّد
  • مُنَجِّد (munajjid)fit padding etc. to furniture
Bulgarian тапицирам
  • тапицирам (tapiciram)fit padding etc. to furniture
Catalan entapissar
  • entapissarfit padding etc. to furniture
Dutch polsteren, bekleden
  • polsterenfit padding etc. to furniture
  • bekledenfit padding etc. to furniture
Esperanto remburi
  • remburifit padding etc. to furniture
Finnish verhoilla
  • verhoillafit padding etc. to furniture
German aufpolstern, polstern
  • aufpolsternfit padding etc. to furniture
  • polsternfit padding etc. to furniture
  • tapezierenfit padding etc. to furniture
Greek επιπλοστρώνω
  • επιπλοστρώνω (epiplostróno)fit padding etc. to furniture
Hungarian kárpitoz
  • kárpitozfit padding etc. to furniture
Irish cumhdaigh
  • cumhdaighfit padding etc. to furniture
Italian tappezzare
  • tappezzarefit padding etc. to furniture
Māori whakapurupuru, whakapuru
  • whakapurupurufit padding etc. to furniture
  • whakapurufit padding etc. to furniture
Polish obijać, obić
  • obijaćfit padding etc. to furniture
  • obićfit padding etc. to furniture
  • tapetowaćfit padding etc. to furniture
  • wytapetowaćfit padding etc. to furniture
  • zdobićfit padding etc. to furniture
Romanian capitona, tapisa
  • capitonafit padding etc. to furniture
  • tapisafit padding etc. to furniture
Russian обива́ть, оби́ть
  • обива́ть (obivátʹ)fit padding etc. to furniture
  • оби́ть (obítʹ)fit padding etc. to furniture
Spanish tapizar
  • tapizarfit padding etc. to furniture
Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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