acclimate

American  

[ak-luh-mayt, uh-klahy-mit] / ˈæk ləˌmeɪt, əˈklaɪ mɪt /

verb (used with or without object)

• acclimates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• acclimated,
  past participle,  past
• acclimating
  present participle

1. 

   to accustom or become accustomed to a new climate or environment; adapt.

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• acclimation
  noun
• reacclimate
  verb
• acclimatable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• acclimating
  present
• acclimated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• acclimate
  simple
• acclimates
  simple
• have acclimated
  perfect
• has acclimated
  perfect
• am acclimating
  progressive
• are acclimating
  progressive
• is acclimating
  progressive
• have been acclimating
  perfect progressive
• has been acclimating
  perfect progressive

Past

• acclimated
  simple
• had acclimated
  perfect
• was acclimating
  progressive
• were acclimating
  progressive
• had been acclimating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will acclimate
  simple
• will have acclimated
  perfect
• will be acclimating
  progressive
• will have been acclimating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of acclimate

From the French word acclimater, dating back to 1785–95; see ac-, climate

Explanation

When you acclimate yourself to a situation, you become used to it. It usually means getting accustomed to a particular new climate, but it can also mean getting used to other situations, such as a new school. The word climate in the word acclimate should give you a clue as to the word's meaning: to get used to a specific climate. Nature allows the human body to acclimate itself to various weather conditions. For example, people moving to higher altitudes will develop more red blood cells in order to absorb oxygen better. This is their bodies' way of acclimating to the thinner air. It takes a while for the body to become acclimated to a new climate.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

acclimate acclimates acclimated acclimating

The team ultimately decided that in order to acclimate, they’d leave eight days before the game.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

Another factor could be the sudden spike in temperature in mid-July, leaving the animals insufficient time to acclimate to the heat, Karaki adds.

From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026

As they acclimate to rural life, they’re embraced by a community that takes care of each other and the world around them, including the kind, furry giant who Mei names Totoro.

From Salon ● Jul. 15, 2026

The South Koreans have also been training for weeks at Verde Valle, Chivas’ training facility, which has allowed them to acclimate to the altitude.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 18, 2026

When no one came, I went out, determined to explore and acclimate myself to the town.

From "The Book of Unknown Americans" by Cristina Henríquez

"Understanding how T. oblongifolia acclimates to heat gives us new strategies to help crops adapt to a warming planet."

From Science Daily ● Nov. 9, 2025

While he acclimates to the long days and exhausting pace of travel between California and Washington, Min said he was reaching out to his Republican colleagues across the aisle.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 27, 2025

Directed by Motl Didner for the National Yiddish Theater Folksbiene, “Amid Falling Walls” deftly acclimates the audience before the performance even starts.

From New York Times ● Nov. 28, 2023

Wilson, like Gourde, also plans to use it in a game once he fully acclimates to it.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 4, 2023

So once he acclimates, Theo is overjoyed to be in Paris, the City of Light.

From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman

You have to overlook a certain number of coincidences early on as Tom and Jake get acclimated to their new home, back in the town where Tom and his late wife grew up.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

There is no opening credits sequence, not even a single bit of pre-title exposition to get viewers acclimated to the characters or the setting.

From Salon ● Apr. 5, 2026

"Extreme early-season heat coupled with high tourism rates will make this heat very dangerous, particularly for those not acclimated to the heat and/or traveling from cooler climates," the Las Vegas, Nevada NWS office said.

From BBC ● Mar. 17, 2026

The Fongoli chimps, who today number 35, were the first and for a long time only group of savannah chimpanzees to be acclimated to the presence of researchers.

From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026

From Mami we hear that our sister is beautifully acclimated to life on the Island and taking classes in shorthand and typing at the Ford Foundation trade school.

From "How the García Girls Lost Their Accents" by Julia Alvarez

But if there’s any silver lining, it’s that Skubal seems to be acclimating just fine in Los Angeles.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 16, 2026

Sitting in unease and acclimating to its extreme temperature — refusing to fight our very nature — is one of the most impactful things we can do for our bodies and minds.

From Salon ● Apr. 9, 2026

So after acclimating to the thin air near the summit, technicians began to dig the first of four holes, each 1 meter deep, with shovels and a handheld drill.

From Science Magazine ● Dec. 2, 2024

Iris takes an oddball approach to acclimating her students to French: She extracts personal confessions from them in English, then writes wildly extrapolated versions of the French on index cards.

From New York Times ● Nov. 21, 2024

Before beginning the mission, Dasch had argued furiously with Kappe that the saboteurs were to spend a few months acclimating and blending in before blowing up any of their targets.

From Nazi Saboteurs by Samantha Seiple

Related Words

• accustom