Calling the largest bedroom in a home the master bedroom now is offensive language

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Preferred phrases can change over time. The Merriam-Webster Dictionary defines a master bedroom as:

 

“a large or principal bedroom”

 

But an article by Sydney Franklin at The New York Times on August 5, 2020 is titled The Biggest Bedroom Is No Longer a ‘Master.’ Another article by Teneal Zuvela at Home beautiful on September 1, 2024 described The problematic history of the term ‘master bedroom.’

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Merriam-Webster said master was first used a century ago. How common it was is shown above via the Google Books Ngram Viewer.

 

Stephan Pastis’s Pearls Before Swine cartoon for May 27, 2025 has the following dialogue about adjectives:

 

Goat: Hey, do you want to see my new master bedroom?

 

Rat: ‘Primary’ bedroom. The word ‘master’ is offensive.

 

Goat: Primary bedroom.

 

Three students: ‘Main bedroom.’ The term ‘primary’ is offensive to primary school students.

 

Goat: I’m gonna just stop talking.

 

Rat: That probably offended someone.

 

The Simpsons fictional character Principal Seymour Skinner could object to principal bedroom.