abode
1 Americannoun
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abodes
plural
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a place in which a person resides; residence; dwelling; habitation; home.
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an extended stay in a place; sojourn.
verb
noun
verb
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of abode
1200–50; Middle English abood a waiting, delay, stay; akin to abide
Explanation
Your abode is where you live. The Queen of England's abode may be far from humble, but it's the home where she rests her weary crown at the end of each day. Though it is often humble, as in, "Welcome to our humble abode," an abode is just a formal way of describing your home. A British solicitor (lawyer) would also use the word abode to describe his office, and if he worked from his home the word would cover both his work and his residence. Interestingly, if you were to substitute the o in the middle of the word for a c, you'd have the first five letters of the alphabet — abcde.
Vocabulary lists containing abode
There's No Word Like Home
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Refugee
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This Week in Words: August 6 - 10, 2018
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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:
Francis was told the women had not been brought under duress but George, of no fixed abode, had "plainly exploited the circumstances of these victims".
From BBC ● Oct. 30, 2026
Lorre purchased his original Pacific Palisades abode for $2.6 million in 1995.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 27, 2026
Kathie Lee Gifford moved to Nashville in 2019 after leaving her hosting gig on the “Today” show, reportedly snapping up a $3.7 million 7,965-square-foot abode.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026
After settling into their custom abode, Biles—who is listed on the deed alongside her mother, Nellie—put the property on the market for $1.2 million.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Though I’ve been here a million times, I still can’t help but marvel at the Choi abode as it stretches into view.
From "Kwame Crashes the Underworld" by Craig Kofi Farmer
Surrounded by undulating circles, spots and stripes, red-roofed Lebanese abodes and white-masted schooners traverse an unsettled horizon line.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
But South Korea's heatwave has made it uninhabitable, forcing him to seek refuge under a makeshift tarp just a stone’s throw from Gangnam’s gleaming skyscrapers, where the wealthy remain cool in their aloof abodes.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
We know that no matter how many abodes David cycles through, he is unlikely to ever find one that fits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
It is unclear whether this incident prompted Pitt to begin looking at other abodes, or if he was already in discussions to buy the Keuning property.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 20, 2025
The cave opened into a low, wide room filled on both sides with tents and makeshift abodes of impressive structure: panel walls, blanket doorways.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
