upholster

upholster — verb

1. to put padding and a fabric cover on seats and chairs so they are comfortable to

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to put padding and a fabric cover on seats and chairs so they are comfortable to sit on and look well finished

Example

Sivan hired a professional to upholster her dining chairs with blue velvet.

active voice: person + hire + to upholster + object + with + material

The old sofa was beautifully upholstered in a soft wool fabric.

passive: be upholstered in + material

Common collocations
  • professionally upholstered
  • beautifully upholstered
  • newly upholstered
  • upholster a chair / sofa / bench / armchair / stool
  • upholster in leather / velvet / linen / cotton
  • upholster with foam / padding / horsehair
Synonyms
  • pad

    pad is broader — you can pad a chair, a wall, or a package; upholster is specific to furniture and includes the fabric cover

  • cover

    cover is much more general; upholster implies a structured process of padding plus fabric, not just draping a cloth over

Antonyms
  • strip

    strip is the opposite — to remove the old padding and fabric from a piece of furniture before re-upholstering

Grammar Patterns

upholster + object + in/with + material

be upholstered in/with + material

Usage Note

Often used in the passive form (be upholstered) to describe the finished state of a piece of furniture. The two main prepositional patterns are 'upholster in' (focusing on the visible material) and 'upholster with' (focusing on the stuffing or fill material used beneath the cover).

Common Mistakes

They upholstered the wall with fabric.
They upholstered the sofa with fabric.
upholster is only used for seats (chairs, sofas, benches), not for walls or floors.
I upholstered a new dress.
I upholstered a chair.
upholster refers specifically to padding and covering furniture, not to sewing clothes.

Word family

  • upholsterer
    nounB2
  • upholstery
    nounB2
  • upholstered
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

'Upholster' is the most specific term — it refers to the complete process of adding both padding and a fabric finish to a seat, and is almost only used for furniture. 'Pad' is broader: you can pad a chair cushion, a helmet, or a shipping box, and it focuses only on adding soft material, with no requirement for a decorative outer layer. 'Cover' is the most general — covering a chair can mean draping a sheet or a loose slipcover over it, while upholstering involves attaching the fabric securely. 'Stuff' differs because it suggests filling an enclosed space (like stuffing a cushion or a teddy bear), not layering padding under a fitted fabric cover. For instance, you would upholster a dining chair by adding foam padding and stapling velvet over it; you would stuff a beanbag by pouring filling into a bag.

upholster ↗pad ↗cover ↗stuff ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • have something upholstered
  • get something upholstered
  • re-upholster

Prepositions

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishEnglish

'Upholster' is a back-formation from the older noun 'upholsterer' (a person who fits padding and covers on furniture), which itself comes from Middle English 'upholder' — a tradesman who mended or maintained household goods. 'Upholder' in turn traces back to the Old English verb 'up-healdan' ('uphold'), originally meaning 'to keep in good condition'. The verb sense of fitting furniture with padding and fabric emerged in the mid-1800s.