tenant
Americannoun
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tenants
plural
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a person or group that rents and occupies land, a house, an office, or the like, from another for a period of time; lessee.
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Law. a person who holds or possesses for a time lands, tenements, or personalty of another, usually for rent.
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an occupant or inhabitant of any place.
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
noun
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a person who holds, occupies, or possesses land or property by any kind of right or title, esp from a landlord under a lease
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a person who has the use of a house, flat, etc, subject to the payment of rent
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any holder or occupant
verb
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(tr) to hold (land or property) as a tenant
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rare to dwell
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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nontenantnoun
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nontenantableadjective
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tenant-likeadjective
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tenantableadjective
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tenantlessadjective
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tenantlikeadjective
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untenantableadjective
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untenantedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tenant
1250–1300; Middle English tena ( u ) nt < Anglo-French; Middle French tenant, noun use of present participle of tenir to hold ≪ Latin tenēre. See -ant
Explanation
A tenant is someone who lives in a place owned by someone else, usually paying rent. If you blast your music and let the cat pee in the corner, your landlord will not think that you're a very good tenant. Tenant is often used to mean "renter," but it can mean anyone who has the right to live in a particular place, either because he signed a lease, which is a rental agreement, because he owns the land, or because government gave him a title to it. If you live in a big apartment building, you should be aware of your rights as a tenant, which usually include things like having heat in the winter and proper fire escapes.
Vocabulary lists containing tenant
"A Modest Proposal" by Jonathan Swift
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Unit 1, Words to Know
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Finding Langston
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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:
Kevin, a tenant who also works in property sales for Forest City, believes scammers are still operating in "condominiums or serviced apartments" in the complex.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
Tell the landlord the same thing, and ask if he would contact the previous tenant.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 11, 2026
A broker advised them to split up: In this market, it is every tenant for herself.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
A spokesperson for Aeon, operators of the mall, told AFP that the seven people who died were employees of tenant stores.
From Barron's ● Aug. 1, 2026
“I want you out of the tenant house in forty-eight hours.”
From "The Old Willis Place" by Mary Downing Hahn
Luke Petherbridge, CEO of the Blackstone-owned company, tells the WSJ Logistics Report’s Liz Young that tenants include companies assembling and supplying components such as turbines, generators and switchgear.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The suit alleged that tenants in thousands of rental units were charged illegal fees, while the company failed to maintain the properties.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
The exact number of tenants who were inside when it collapsed is unknown.
From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026
It has a team working off of a master list of desired tenants, boosting Burbank for consideration for popular shops, restaurants and cafes.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
For the rest of the day he jogged through the hallways and up and down stairs, scaring the nervous tenants half out of their wits.
From "The Westing Game" by Ellen Raskin
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.
