Phrase guide

cup of tea

noun · 4 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈkʌp əv ˈtiː/ careful speech
  • informal: /ˌkʌp ə ˈtiː/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see cup, tea. A cup or mug with tea in it.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Would you be a dear and get me a cup of tea, please?

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cuppa, brew

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An activity or domain in which someone is interested or skilled in; one's personal preference.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: idiomatic, singular, singular-only

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: dish, jam, affinity, bag, bent, cup of coffee, cup of joe, cup of tea, fancy, liking, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, preference, proclivity, propension, propensity, shine, taste, thing

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

three

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: bingo, games

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

an activity that you like or at which you are superior

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • chemistry is not my cup of tea
  • his bag now is learning to play golf
  • marriage was scarcely his dish

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: bag, dish

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: activity

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.

Across languages

Translations

30 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Catalan: tassa de te — container
  • Chinese Mandarin: 杯茶 (bēi chá) — container
  • Cornish: hanafas a de — container
  • Dutch: kopje thee — container
  • Esperanto: taso da teo — container
  • Finnish: kuppi teetä — container
  • Finnish: kupillinen teetä — container
  • French: tasse de thé — container
  • German: Tasse Tee — container
  • Greek: φλιτζάνι τσάι (flitzáni tsái) — container
  • Hebrew: כּוֹס תֵּה (kos tēh) — container
  • Hungarian: egy csésze tea — container
  • Irish: cupán tae — container
  • Italian: tazza di tè — container
  • Manx: cappan dy hey — container
  • Mongolian: аяга цай (ajaga caj) — container
  • Polish: filiżanka herbaty — container
  • Portuguese: xícara de chá — container
  • Romanian: ceașcă de ceai — container
  • Scottish Gaelic: strùpag — container
  • Scottish Gaelic: cupa tì — container
  • Scottish Gaelic: copan teatha — container
  • Scottish Gaelic: srùbag — container
  • Spanish: taza de té / cha — container
  • Swedish: kopp te — container
  • Vietnamese: tách trà — container
  • Welsh: paned — container
  • Welsh: paned o de — container
  • Welsh: dysglaid — container
  • Welsh: dysglaid o de — container