Synonyms

adapt

American

[uh-dapt] / əˈdæpt /

verb (used with object)

to make suitable to requirements or conditions; adjust or modify fittingly.

They adapted themselves to the change quickly.
He adapted the novel for movies.

Synonyms:

convert, rework, modify, conform, reconcile, suit, accommodate, fit

verb (used without object)

to adjust oneself to different conditions, environment, etc..

to adapt easily to all circumstances.

adapt British

/ əˈdæpt /

verb

(often foll by to) to adjust (someone or something, esp oneself) to different conditions, a new environment, etc
(tr) to fit, change, or modify to suit a new or different purpose

to adapt a play for use in schools

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Synonym Usage

See adjust.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of adapt

First recorded in 1605–15; from Latin adaptāre “to fit, adjust,” perhaps via French adapter; see ad-, apt

Explanation

Say you move to a country where everyone cooks with lots of hot peppers. At first the food scalds your tongue, but over time you adapt — you change in a way that allows you to deal with the new circumstances. Adapt comes from the ancient word ap, which means "take" or "grasp." Ap is even older than Latin — it comes from a lost language that was spoken by the common ancestors of modern-day Indians and Europeans and has since been reconstructed by linguists, who named it the Proto-Indo-European language, or PIE. So what does adapt have to do with grasp? If you adapt to, say, a new country, it's as though you're grabbing hold of its strange, slippery customs.

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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.

The problem for military commanders is that, even as they seek to adapt to the war of the future, they still need to consider the threats that exist today.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 7, 2026

The design demanded a factory that could adapt.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 7, 2026

To adapt a line from the political strategist James Carville: It’s the phones, stupid!

From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 7, 2026

However, with neurodivergent fans now making up at least 20% of all applications for accessibility tickets, Silverstone has had to adapt.

From BBC • Jul. 6, 2026

In order to reach Australia, humans had to cross a number of sea channels, some more than 60 miles wide, and upon arrival they had to adapt nearly overnight to a completely new ecosystem.

From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023