customary

American  

[kuhs-tuh-mer-ee] / ˈkʌs təˌmɛr i /

adjective

1. according to or depending on custom; usual; habitual.

   Synonyms:

   regular, common, conventional, accustomed, wonted

   Antonyms:

   uncommon

2. of or established by custom rather than law.

3. Law. defined by long-continued practices.

   the customary service due from land in a manor.

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noun

• customaries
  plural

1. a book or document containing the legal customs or customary laws of a locality.

2. any body of such customs or laws.

customary British  

/ ˈkʌstəmərɪ, -təmrɪ /

adjective

1. in accordance with custom or habitual practice; usual; habitual

2. law

   1. founded upon long continued practices and usage rather than law

   2. (of land, esp a feudal estate) held by custom

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noun

1. 1. a statement in writing of customary laws and practices

   2. a body of such laws and customs

Synonym Usage

See usual.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• customariness
  noun
• noncustomary
  adjective
• uncustomary
  adjective
• customarily
  adverb
• noncustomarily
  adverb
• uncustomarily
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• customaries
  plural

Etymology

Origin of customary

First recorded in 1375–1425; 1515–25 for current senses; late Middle English, from Medieval Latin custumārius, customārius, equivalent to costum(i)a, “custom” (also in Vulgar Latin; see custom) + -ārius -ary

Explanation

Something customary is done according to practice. When a bride walks down the aisle, it's customary for everyone at the wedding to rise out of respect. Every culture has its own customary traditions. In American culture it's customary for a child who loses a tooth to put it under her pillow and wait for the Tooth Fairy to arrive. In Greece, on the other hand, it's customary to throw a child's lost tooth onto the roof for good luck. Customary can also reference habitual things a person does, like taking your shoes off when you come home, or writing in your diary before bed.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

customary customaries

Flights and hotels are now customary expenses, in addition to gifts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 19, 2026

Those numbers are likely understated: Many holdings were listed with a range of values, or simply as “over $50,000,000,” as is customary for government financial disclosures.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 9, 2026

"As the number of private lodging businesses has risen, complaints and troubles around them have increased," the official said on customary condition of anonymity.

From Barron's ● Sep. 7, 2026

The customary roar of approval from Labour MPs followed as he took his seat.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Aided as was customary by Aureliano Segundo, they broke the seals, opened the cover, took out the protective sawdust, and found inside a long lead chest closed by copper bolts.

From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

His Antiquities of Teutonic Law have shown that the codes of the Lombards, Franks, and Goths were not mere savage, brutal customaries, based, as had been supposed, on the absence of all law and right.

From Popular Tales from the Norse by George Webbe Dasent

Under date August, 1569, in the accounts of the High Treasurer there is an entry, where the "customaries of Ochterairder" are mentioned along with those of St. Andrews.

From Chronicles of Strathearn by W. B. Macdougall

Related Words

• accepted
• traditional