accustom

American  

[uh-kuhs-tuhm] / əˈkʌs təm /

verb (used with object)

accustoms, present (3rd person singular) accustomed, past participle, past accustoming present participle

1. to familiarize by custom or use; habituate.

   to accustom oneself to cold weather.

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accustom British  

/ əˈkʌstəm /

verb

1. to make (oneself) familiar (with) or used (to), as by practice, habit, or experience

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preaccustom
  verb (used with object)
• reaccustom
  verb (used with object)
• unaccustom
  verb (used with object)

Inflected Forms

Participles

• accustoming
  present
• accustomed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• accustom
  simple
• accustoms
  simple
• have accustomed
  perfect
• has accustomed
  perfect
• am accustoming
  progressive
• are accustoming
  progressive
• is accustoming
  progressive
• have been accustoming
  perfect progressive
• has been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Past

• accustomed
  simple
• had accustomed
  perfect
• was accustoming
  progressive
• were accustoming
  progressive
• had been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Future

• will accustom
  simple
• will have accustomed
  perfect
• will be accustoming
  progressive
• will have been accustoming
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of accustom

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English word from Middle French word acoustumer. See ac-, custom

Explanation

The verb accustom means to become used to or familiar with something; to make something a habit. If there is a new baby in your family, you will most likely become accustomed to changing diapers. Although the verb accustom looks like it should be related to the word custom, it actually comes through costume, through the Old French acostumer, with à, meaning "to," and costume, meaning "fashion or habit." Now it retains the meaning to make something a habit. You can accustom yourself to loud sirens if you live in a city or to the sound of crickets if you live in the country. Parents often cannot become accustomed to the musical taste of their kids.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

accustom accustoms accustomed accustoming

And the notion that video games might accustom people to the idea of war has long been settled: The U.S.

From New York Times ● Feb. 1, 2024

Trent, the former customer the Roosevelt Bartell, ended up at the Rite Aid in Wedgwood, where she said she’s had to accustom herself to long waits.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 16, 2023

You can accustom yourself to believing things without support or believing things without empirical validation or believing by simply brushing aside questions.

From Salon ● Sep. 24, 2021

So there are technical aspects that Kalbfleisch has to accustom her to.

From Washington Post ● Aug. 17, 2017

I wait a few moments to accustom my eyes to the darkness.

From "All Quiet on the Western Front: A Novel" by Erich Maria Remarque

Chief among these techniques is "systematic desensitization," the process a mother uses when she accustoms a baby to the ocean by dipping in one foot first, then a leg, then the infant's whole body.

From Time Magazine Archive

Though it is repetitious and - I am afraid to say - increasingly annoying to listen to, this technique soon accustoms our ears to expect equal weight in a tune’s two halves.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall

This is indicated by the manner in which it accustoms itself to the sight of strange objects, and by its behavior when a change is made in its nest or surroundings.

From Journal of Entomology and Zoology Volume 11, Number 4, December 1919 by Alexander, Charles P.

But at least it encourages somewhat more sustained reading and, what is the great fact, it accustoms the reader to handling something in the form of a book.

From The Twentieth Century American Being a Comparative Study of the Peoples of the Two Great Anglo-Saxon Nations by Robinson, Harry Perry

Life in these forests accustoms the eyes to see in darkness.

From With Cochrane the Dauntless by Henty, G. A. (George Alfred)

Like Yulia, he said he was not worried, having become accustomed to the regular buzz of drones.

From Barron's ● Jul. 31, 2026

Some of the American companies, which are more accustomed to public bidding processes, have requested U.S. officials intervene.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 30, 2026

At the Stormy Cup cafe, staff had become accustomed to serving cast and crew members in recent years, but now they are catering for more tourists.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

Candi Carter, whose Cistus Media handles e-commerce for Tegna, said viewers have long been accustomed to seeing products touted inside of programming content, going back to the days of Oprah Winfrey’s “favorite things” segments.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 19, 2026

He was accustomed to throwing his mind at complicated problems and reasoning them out on his own.

From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama

Bacon said he and the fellow star had no qualms accustoming to their new routine while quarantining amid the coronavirus pandemic.

From Fox News ● Jan. 10, 2022

“These reviews also had a good effect in accustoming the troops to see me, although they saw so much of me in their camps and on the picket-lines that this was of minor importance.”

From New York Times ● Oct. 13, 2017

The old falconers called the process of accustoming a hawk to a human “watching.”

From Slate ● Mar. 6, 2015

With the speedy Wall leading the way, the Wizards plan to use more of a running, uptempo style than Porter was accustoming to playing the past two seasons at Georgetown.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 6, 2013

The tone of society is so different from what it was formerly, in all that concerns France, that the editors must experience considerable trouble in accustoming themselves to the new state of things.

From My Unknown Chum by Fairbanks, Charles Bullard

Related Words

• acquaint
• adapt