A couch potato is a person who spends their free time on the sofa in front of the TV or with their phone and hardly moves. It sounds humorous, but with a hint of criticism. The idiom is conversational; in an essay about health, write people with a sedentary lifestyle.
When would you say a couch potato?
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be / become / turn into + a couch potato; couch potatoes
- In winter I turn into a couch potato and watch TV series every evening.
- My flatmate is a real couch potato; he hasn't left the sofa all weekend.
- Children who become couch potatoes often find it hard to get enough exercise.
What changed
First versionAt weekends my brother is a sofa potato.
RevisionAt weekends my brother is a couch potato.
Sofa really is the usual British word for this piece of furniture, which is where the mistake comes from. But the idiom is fixed, and it always uses couch. Only one word was corrected.
Lazy describes someone who avoids effort in general, including at work or in their studies. A couch potato is specifically about free time in front of a screen: He works hard all week, but at weekends he's a couch potato. For someone who simply likes staying at home, American English has the word homebody.
Your turn
Since he bought a big new TV, Jake has become a real ___: he hardly ever goes out.
Show the answer
couch potato — Jake hardly ever goes out and sits in front of his new TV, so he is a couch potato. A social butterfly, on the other hand, loves meeting people and rarely stays at home.
Describe a day when you were a real couch potato. Say what you watched and how many hours you spent on the sofa.
Last Sunday I was a complete couch potato: I spent eight hours on the sofa watching a crime series.
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