accommodate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to do a kindness or a favor to; oblige.
to accommodate a friend by helping him move to a new apartment.
- Antonyms:
- inconvenience
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to provide suitably; supply (usually followed bywith ).
The officials were accommodated with seats toward the front of the room.
-
to lend money to.
Can you accommodate him, or are you short of cash?
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to provide with a room and sometimes with food.
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to furnish with accommodations, as food and lodgings.
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to have or make room for.
Will this elevator accommodate 10 people?
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to make suitable or consistent; adapt.
to accommodate oneself to circumstances.
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to bring into harmony or make adjustments or allowances for.
to accommodate differences;
to accommodate your busy schedule.
verb (used without object)
-
to become adjusted or adapted.
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to become reconciled; agree.
verb
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(tr) to supply or provide, esp with lodging or board and lodging
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(tr) to oblige or do a favour for
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to adjust or become adjusted; adapt
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(tr) to bring into harmony; reconcile
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(tr) to allow room for; contain
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(tr) to lend money to, esp on a temporary basis until a formal loan has been arranged
Usage
What does accommodate mean? To accommodate someone is to do them a favor or meet their needs or wants in some way, as in You don’t have to accommodate everyone all the time—sometimes the answer should be no. To accommodate a request is to honor it—to do what has been asked, as in They were kind enough to accommodate my special requests. The adjective accommodating means eager or willing to help or please in this way. Accommodate can also mean to make or have room for, as in This bus can accommodate up to 50 passengers. Similarly, accommodate can mean to provide someone with a place to stay, as in Unfortunately the hotel was not able to accommodate us—all the rooms were reserved. The related term accommodation is often used in this context, especially in relation to hotels rooms or other temporary lodging. In this case, it is often used in the plural, as in What are the accommodations like?Accommodation is also commonly used in a general way referring to the act of accommodating. This can be used in any of the senses of the word. Example: We’ve extended our hours to better accommodate our customers.
Synonym Usage
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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reaccommodateverb
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preaccommodateverb (used with object)
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accommodableadjective
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accommodativeadjective
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nonaccommodableadjective
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unaccommodableadjective
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underaccommodatedadjective
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well-accommodatedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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accommodatesimple
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accommodatessimple
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have accommodatedperfect
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has accommodatedperfect
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am accommodatingprogressive
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are accommodatingprogressive
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is accommodatingprogressive
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have been accommodatingperfect progressive
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has been accommodatingperfect progressive
Past
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accommodatedsimple
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had accommodatedperfect
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was accommodatingprogressive
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were accommodatingprogressive
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had been accommodatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of accommodate
First recorded in 1515–25; from Latin accommodātus “adjusted,” past participle of accommodāre “to adjust,” from ac- ac- + commod(us) “convenient, fitting, suitable” ( see com-, mode)
Explanation
If you accommodate, you are making an adjustment to suit a particular purpose. If you accommodate your brother's demand for the attic room, then you give in and let him take over that space. Accommodate entered English in the mid-16th century from the Latin word accommodat-, meaning "made fitting." Whether it refers to changing something to suit someone's wishes or providing someone with something he needs, accommodate typically involves making something fit. You might change your lunch plans, for example, to accommodate your best friend's schedule. Accommodate can also refer to providing housing or having enough space for something. You might need to open up the extra bedroom to accommodate your out-of-town guests.
Vocabulary lists containing accommodate
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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:
David Duval, 55, said he could accommodate a family.
From Barron's ● Jul. 25, 2026
Both men might be keen to play together... but can new Chelsea manager Xabi Alonso find the system to accommodate two such similar profiles?
From BBC ● Jul. 24, 2026
They made some budgetary adjustments to accommodate the monthly mortgage payment, Markowicz told MarketWatch.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 22, 2026
In their telling, Sunnyvale at first suggested it could accommodate them, before refusing.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
The second was Yale’s complacent refusal to accommodate its sought-after assistant professor’s request for a promotion to associate professor.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Its legal framework already accommodates this approach by distinguishing between several types of property, including small homes, large apartment buildings, and commercial property.
From Barron's ● Apr. 17, 2026
“The bandwidth in our 2026 guidance accommodates potential outcomes of ongoing discussions around export controls,” Fouquet said.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 15, 2026
Addiewell, the only privately run jail in Scotland, can hold just short of 800 prisoners and accommodates convicted adult male prisoners and men on remand.
From BBC ● Apr. 15, 2026
Abu Dhabi’s tourism department also is funding construction of a Sphere there to echo the scale of the Las Vegas version, which accommodates as many as 20,000 people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 8, 2026
He calls her Laurette; he eats a roasted duck every day at 3 P.M.; his mind accommodates a seemingly inexhaustible catalog of Latin binomial names.
From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr
From one world-class facility to another, the SFA pushed the boat out again to secure the 52,000 square foot Atrium Health Performance Park, which previously accommodated Real Madrid and Inter Milan.
From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026
They have accommodated me with a hotel, but I don’t have access to basic amenities like laundry or a kitchen, and it’s been a significant amount of time.
From MarketWatch ● May 5, 2026
Yaroslavsky supports increasing housing density near transit centers but said if left unchecked, the law could lead to more homes than can be accommodated by the city’s infrastructure.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 1, 2026
If he feels these changes can be accommodated, they can.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 19, 2026
Reader, though I look comfortably accommodated, I am not very tranquil in my mind.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
This place has an odd, accommodating kinship with these prehistoric monsters, a willingness to coexist rather than eliminate what would kill us.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 26, 2026
He wants employers to be more accommodating to caregivers because he knows employees need flexibility, like the ability to work from home, in order to advance in their careers.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
He stressed these incidents are notable exceptions, and that "overwhelmingly, the judiciary have been very inclusive and accommodating".
From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2026
Across the board, the staff is genial and preternaturally accommodating.
From Slate ● Jun. 2, 2026
Whoever programmed my personality made me overly accommodating.
From "Starfish" by Akemi Dawn Bowman
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.
