household
Americannoun
adjective
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of or relating to a household.
household furniture.
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for use in maintaining a home, especially for use in cooking, cleaning, laundering, repairing, etc., in the home.
a household bleach.
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common or usual; ordinary.
noun
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the people living together in one house collectively
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(modifier) of, relating to, or used in the running of a household; domestic
household management
Etymology
Origin of household
First recorded in 1350–1400, household is from the Middle English word houshold. See house, hold 1
Explanation
How many people does your house hold? That’s your household! A household refers to a family or group of people living together. It’s a social unit under one roof. All the people living in your house, including servants, make up your household. Don’t have any servants? Well, your roommates count as part of your household, too. In the middle of the night, your household might be asleep. Your household income could determine whether or not you get the pool in the backyard. Household can also be an adjective to describe — you guessed it — things that are in your house, like household appliances or household furniture.
Vocabulary lists containing household
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It is the first report into royal residences in 20 years and shows Mountbatten-Windsor and his family and staff had 12 properties, owned by the Crown Estate or the Royal Household.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Household wealth at the time was upward of 3% to 4% of those assets, and it’s now less than 1%.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 4, 2026
They do not pay any rent for this central London accommodation, instead it is paid by the "privy purse", which is the monarch's personal money, to the Royal Household.
From BBC • Jun. 4, 2026
Household consumption rose by 0.5% in the quarter, led by spending on essentials such as electricity as government rebates ceased.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 3, 2026
It had entered the U.S. subprime lending business in 2003, when it had bought America’s biggest consumer lending operation, Household Finance.
From "The Big Short" by Michael Lewis
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
