adapt
Americanverb (used with object)
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adapts,
present (3rd person singular)
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adapted,
past participle, past
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adapting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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adapts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
adapted,
past participle, past
-
adapting
present participle
verb
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(often foll by to) to adjust (someone or something, esp oneself) to different conditions, a new environment, etc
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(tr) to fit, change, or modify to suit a new or different purpose
to adapt a play for use in schools
Synonym Usage
See adjust.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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adaptabilitynoun
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adaptednessnoun
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misadaptverb
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readaptverb (used with object)
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adaptableadjective
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adaptiveadjective
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nonadaptingadjective
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unadaptedadjective
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well-adaptedadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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adaptsimple
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adaptssimple
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have adaptedperfect
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has adaptedperfect
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am adaptingprogressive
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are adaptingprogressive
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is adaptingprogressive
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have been adaptingperfect progressive
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has been adaptingperfect progressive
Past
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adaptedsimple
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had adaptedperfect
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was adaptingprogressive
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were adaptingprogressive
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had been adaptingperfect progressive
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.
Vocabulary lists containing adapt
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 2
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List 4
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The New SAT: The Language of the Test
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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:
Competition would force existing universities to adapt faster and more comprehensively than any direct donation or withheld government funding could.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“Crises repeatedly generate predictions of collapse, but alliances adapt precisely because the underlying incentives remain compelling.”
From Slate ● Oct. 8, 2026
He said the changing climate was more "pronounced on Lundy" and islanders needed to adapt.
From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026
A UN report released in August found developing countries needed $310 billion-$365 billion to adapt, yet had only $26 billion in adaptation finance available in 2023.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
If it is too low, new varieties will not be available to adapt to some future change in the environment.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
Mike Flanagan adapts the Stephen King book into an eight-part series, starring an impressive Summer H. Howell and cannily updated to the present day.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 7, 2026
If Fiala comes back early and healthy and if the team adapts quickly to the change in style, those predictions may prove overly dire.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 27, 2026
Haydn Parry: It will be interesting to see how wide receiver Carnell Tate, fourth overall pick by Tennessee, adapts among the big boys.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Or, if you prefer superheroes: HBO’s new show adapts DC’s Green Lantern comics, but the series offers more than just your typical superhero fare.
From Slate ● Aug. 31, 2026
The reasons and justifications change over time, as each new caste system reflects and adapts to changes in the social, political, and economic context.
From "The New Jim Crow" by Michelle Alexander
Zuckerberg’s evolution from upstart in sandals to business leader in gold chains, was not what made Sorkin want to follow-up the movie that won him an Oscar for best adapted screenplay.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026
“So Ordered: An Originalist’s View of the Constitution, the Court, and Our Country” is a collection of essays adapted from speeches he has given since 2007, many with straightforward titles, including “Let Judges Be Judges.”
From Salon ● Oct. 6, 2026
But I love the book I adapted it from and I love the story — there’s a lot to it.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
"I adapted myself for the city and started bringing out the kind of worst side of myself."
From BBC ● Oct. 3, 2026
Already, he had heard the locals refer to it as the Newsless Courier, and he had immediately adapted the bastardized version as his own.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
That opportunity is coinciding with Palantir’s move toward a more vertical model that involves adapting its various products and platforms to specific industries, she added.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
For all of Colleen Hoover’s success on the page, adapting her books to the screen has been tricky.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2026
Insurers are adapting to shifting market conditions with aggressive cost-cutting measures.
From Barron's ● Oct. 3, 2026
The company is also adapting to how and where consumers shop, working with ChatGPT and other AI platforms on everything from advertising to instant checkout options available inside the chatbots.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 29, 2026
Were they adapting to him, or were they trying to keep him from freezing?
From "The Way to Rio Luna" by Zoraida Cordova
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.
