dwelling
Americannoun
noun
Synonym Usage
See house.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of dwelling
Explanation
A dwelling is a home — where someone lives. Houses, apartments, and condos are all dwellings. If you know that to dwell means to live somewhere, then the meaning of dwelling won't be a surprise: it's an abode, domicile, or home. Your dwelling might be a house or an apartment. Tents, trailers, and igloos are all dwellings. Anything people live in is a dwelling. If you have no dwelling, then you have no shelter and you're probably homeless.
Vocabulary lists containing dwelling
Christmas Carol Vocab: A Lyrical Lexicon
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There's No Word Like Home
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30 GRE Words Beginning with "D"
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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.
Trudeau purchased the home from Nicolas Ruggieri, who is the leader of the real estate section at Batipart Invest, and had bought the dwelling in 2023 for $3.9 million.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 12, 2026
Her story covers the breadth of her life, dwelling especially on her youth in the 1930s among migrant fruit pickers.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 11, 2026
The inspector ordered her to cease using the building as a dwelling, remove the unauthorised structure and demolish the "unlawful extension" to the barn.
From BBC • Jun. 11, 2026
Working with her sister, Venus, who owns an interior design firm, Williams turned the property into her dream dwelling, complete with every luxurious amenity imaginable, including—of course—a private trophy room.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 8, 2026
They ate, and some small effort was made at polite conversation, but their minds were elsewhere, dwelling on the story.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
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.
