befit
Americanverb (used with object)
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befits,
present (3rd person singular)
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befitted,
past participle, past
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befitting
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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befitsimple
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befitssimple
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have befittedperfect
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has befittedperfect
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am befittingprogressive
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are befittingprogressive
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is befittingprogressive
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have been befittingperfect progressive
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has been befittingperfect progressive
Past
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befittedsimple
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had befittedperfect
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was befittingprogressive
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were befittingprogressive
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had been befittingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of befit
late Middle English word dating back to 1425–75; see origin at be-, fit 1
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.
See Examples For:
The glitzy Sphere suits Las Vegas; a new football arena along classical lines would befit Washington, which Frederick Douglass praised for “its lofty domes and stately pillars.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 20, 2026
Ralph Fiennes’ version befit a consummate actor who’d long cherished T.S.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 25, 2023
Unquestioned, unlimited authority may befit a ruler who reigns by divine right.
From Slate ● Apr. 26, 2023
The accessibility and variety befit the only publicly owned major professional sports franchise in North America.
From New York Times ● Nov. 7, 2022
As befit the man who had challenged Ernest Rutherford’s disparagement of atomic power as “moonshine” back in 1933, Ernest Lawrence’s first instinct was to take the news of fission as vindication.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
But the stadium switch illustrates their ambition, and Chelsea believe it is a venue that befits their recent success.
From BBC ● Apr. 22, 2026
The answer is evasive but also magnanimous, as befits Mr. Youngkin’s personality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 23, 2026
The recital acted like a religious experience in which a rarefied atmosphere befits radiance.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 19, 2026
Barely a speech goes by without him addressing the destructive power of nuclear weapons with a kind of awe that befits a 79-year-old who grew up during the Cold War.
From Barron's ● Oct. 30, 2025
The outer planets, such as Jupiter and Saturn, move stately and slow, as befits the kings of the gods.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
She began with an incisive reading of Webern’s Six Pieces for Orchestra, keeping her conducting elegantly restrained, even economized — gestures that befitted this sharply angled, brief set.
From New York Times ● Apr. 5, 2024
Devin looked far from the days where his cheeks were bone thin at weigh-ins and he befitted the stare of the undead.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 3, 2023
Apart from Serena Williams' farewell, this was the biggest blockbuster of the tournament so far and a match-up between two entertaining players which would have befitted the latter stages.
From BBC ● Sep. 4, 2022
The Pegu Club project befitted the family’s East-meets-West positioning and the optimism of a country newly engaging with the world.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 24, 2021
As befitted the central player in the Constitutional Convention, Madison emphasized the various legal obligations imposed by the compact of 1787.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
It’s a trajectory that the immensely appealing, rollicking documentary “American Pachuco: The Legend of Luis Valdez” tracks with a vitality and purpose befitting its subject.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The billionaire singer and three-time Super Bowl champion, both 36, have kept fans guessing, but media reports describe an over-the-top celebration befitting one of the world's most famous musicians.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
It was befitting of an important office job, with only the lightest indicators of riches and omnipotence.
From Slate ● Jun. 11, 2026
Often smeared on hot buttered toast, it tastes like a fishy, peppery paté, befitting the mock Latin name Osborn gave to it, Patum Peperium.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 1, 2026
The ensemble he fears looks silly on himself would have looked dignified, elegant, befitting his father in a way he knows it does not him.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
