habitual
Americanadjective
-
of the nature of a habit; fixed by or resulting from habit.
habitual courtesy.
-
(of a person) having developed a specified character through force of habit.
a habitual gossip.
- Synonyms:
- inveterate, confirmed
- Antonyms:
- occasional
-
commonly used, followed, observed, etc., as by a particular person; customary.
She took her habitual place at the table.
- Synonyms:
- regular, accustomed
- Antonyms:
- unaccustomed
adjective
-
(usually prenominal) done or experienced regularly and repeatedly
the habitual Sunday walk
-
(usually prenominal) by habit
a habitual drinker
-
customary; usual
his habitual comment
Synonym Usage
See usual.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of habitual
First recorded in 1520–30; from Medieval Latin habituālis “relating to dress, condition, or habit,” equivalent to Latin habitu(s) habit 1 + -ālis -al 1
Explanation
If something is habitual, it's what you usually do. Your habitual jeans and t-shirt might work for school, but try dressing up for the opera. Habitual is the adjective form of habit, which comes from the Latin habēre, which meant the mode of one's being, and often referred to the mode of dress. Now habit means anything you do repeatedly — your habitual actions. Perhaps you have a habitual preference for cheeseburgers, which you eat at your habitual restaurant on your habitual Wednesday night out.
Vocabulary lists containing habitual
100 SAT Words Beginning with "H"
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Hello, Universe
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To Kill a Mockingbird, Chapters 1–11
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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 prisoners are calling for creating a review board to oversee the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles and repealing the Habitual Felony Offenders Act, a law that results in longer prison sentences.
From New York Times • Sep. 28, 2022
The letter also says it is essential that all arrivals have access to public funds, including welfare benefits, and are exempted from the Habitual Residence Test for accessing these.
From BBC • Mar. 12, 2022
Habitual niceness meant habitually nicked boundaries, dismissed as just more dents in an already beleaguered autonomy.
From Washington Post • Mar. 18, 2016
As Classic Girl, the last track on Ritual de lo Habitual, puts it: “They may say, ‘Those were the days’… but in a way, you know for us these are the days...
From The Guardian • Jul. 30, 2014
Habitual caution was responsible for the shirt being open, for he was not even sure that he would fight if trouble should come upon him, unless the women gave him a clear field.
From The Orphan by Mulford, Clarence E.
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.
