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
Related Words
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.
Habitual late payments can indeed damage your credit score, which impacts access to credit and how much you’ll pay in interest.
From Seattle Times • Jun. 28, 2023
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
Habitual theatergoers, though, shouldn’t expect the kind of revivifying interpretation that makes revisiting a classic feel essential.
From New York Times • Apr. 17, 2014
Habitual constipation has been entirely removed by the change.
From Vegetable Diet: As Sanctioned by Medical Men, and by Experience in All Ages Including a System of Vegetable Cookery by Alcott, William A. (William Andrus)
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.
