habitué

American  

[huh-bich-oo-ay, -bich-oo-ay, a-bee-tway] / həˈbɪtʃ uˌeɪ, -ˌbɪtʃ uˈeɪ, a biˈtweɪ /

noun

• habitués
  plural

1. a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

   a habitué of art galleries.

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habitué British  

/ həˈbɪtjʊˌeɪ /

noun

1. a frequent visitor to a place

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• habitués
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of habitué

First recorded in 1810–20; from French, noun use of masculine past participle of habituer, from Late Latin habituāre; see habituate

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Explanation

A habitué is a frequent and well-known patron of a particular place. If you walk into a restaurant, and the entire staff waves and says your name, you are likely a habitué. The English habitué is spelled and pronounced the same as the 200-year-old French word (the accent is optional), which means "accustomed." The most famous habitué in American sitcom history is probably Norm Peterson of Cheers, whose arrival was always greeted by a chorus of patrons shouting "Norm!" Other, less French-sounding words for this famous fellow might be fixture or regular.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

habitué habitués

The older painter, though remaining a salon habitué, lent a Morisot painting he owned to the show.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

The longtime habitué of Griffith Park was a symbol of a ferality lurking under L.A.’s sheen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023

While researching, Peters also stumbled across the green darner dragonfly: Washington’s state insect; a habitué of lakes, ponds and springs; and a rich symbol.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

But Albarado — old, broken up and a habitué of the bush circuit — summoned his instincts of old.

From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2020

With glasses, and an unbelted Mother Hubbard gown made out of antiqued gold cloth, she might have passed for a habitué of the pseudo-artistic colony that made its headquarters not far away from her domicile.

From Apron-Strings by Eleanor Gates

His two daughters attend private schools, while he and his wife, Vivian, are habitués of the local country club.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

A wall-size mural of Allen Ginsberg with his conventional middle-class relatives faces off against one of Andy Warhol and habitués of the Factory — two luminaries of vanguard culture posing with very different families.

From New York Times ● May 24, 2023

As narrated by Damon Runyon in his signature “Guys and Dolls” style, they describe the tiffs and rivalries among the habitués of a celestial saloon.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 18, 2021

The counterculture movement has deep roots from the granola-crunchy vibe of San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury to the chilled-out Abbot Kinney habitués of Venice of old.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 7, 2019

The two habitués of the stalls nodded to one another their approbation of the retort, and Madame Dorinde, to calm what threatened to be one ebullition with another, called for champagne.

From A Double Knot by George Manville Fenn

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