bought

American  

[bawt] / bɔt /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of buy.

---

adjective

1. South Midland and Southern U.S. store-bought.

bought British  

/ bɔːt /

verb

1. the past tense and past participle of buy

---

adjective

1. purchased from a shop; not homemade

bought Idioms  

1. see under buy.

---

Other Word Forms

• unbought adjective
• well-bought adjective

Etymology

Origin of bought

First recorded before 900, for the adjective for an earlier sense

Compare meaning

How does bought compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:

• bought vs. brought

Example Sentences

From there, we leapfrogged to Venice, then Marina del Rey and finally to Mar Vista, where we bought our second home and planted ourselves like people who understood picket fences.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

It’s frustrating because they’re in their 70s, bought their home about 40 years ago and were able to pay it off under very different economic conditions.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

“There was no competition,” said Eben Busa, who grew up next door to Hartford County and bought his first home in the area in 2017.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 3, 2026

“I had a song that HBO bought for ‘Pause With Sam Jay.’

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 3, 2026

Leaves of dulse, a bit of meat shredded into soup on Christmas Day, the sticky red candy that Da had bought us after the harvest one year were nothing like this sweet milk.

From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff