habituate
Americanverb (used with object)
-
to accustom (a person, the mind, etc.), as to a particular situation.
Wealth habituated him to luxury.
- Synonyms:
- train, acclimate, familiarize
-
Archaic. to frequent.
verb (used without object)
verb
-
to accustom; make used (to)
-
archaic to frequent
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
habituatesimple
-
habituatessimple
-
have habituatedperfect
-
has habituatedperfect
-
am habituatingprogressive
-
are habituatingprogressive
-
is habituatingprogressive
-
have been habituatingperfect progressive
-
has been habituatingperfect progressive
Past
-
habituatedsimple
-
had habituatedperfect
-
was habituatingprogressive
-
were habituatingprogressive
-
had been habituatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of habituate
1520–30; < Late Latin habituātus conditioned, constituted, (past participle of habituāre ), equivalent to habitu ( s ) habit 1 + -ātus -ate 1
Explanation
When you habituate something, you're helping it to get accustomed to a new home. Workers in zoos spend a lot of time habituating animals. The word "habit" in habituate is a clue to its meaning — by habituating, you're helping a creature or person get used to new surroundings and establish new habits, especially in a new habitat (home). If your dog spends the night with a friend, you might bring some of his toys to habituate him and make him feel comfortable. It takes a lot of time for a new cat to be habituated to a home. When you habituate something, you're helping it feel comfortable and accustomed to a new place.
Vocabulary lists containing habituate
The Alchemist
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Dear Martin
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Primates
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
The media has a responsibility to fight back in kind, and at least try to habituate people to recognizing and confronting the truth.
From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2024
"There's this idea that the animals are going to habituate to humans if they're not hunted. But we've shown that this isn't the case.," says Clinchy.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 5, 2023
Other sloths that will return to the wild receive numbers instead of names because the Rodriguezes do not want them to habituate to people.
From Reuters ● Aug. 4, 2021
Wouldn’t you discuss which loves are higher than others and practices that habituate them toward those desires?
From Seattle Times ● May 13, 2016
By working them thus alternately, while they are fresh and full of spirits, you will habituate them to implicit obedience.
From The Dog by Dinks
It said cat food is not a natural part of the nene diet, and eating at the feeding stations habituates nene to people and makes them reliant on the provided food.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2023
Researchers don’t fully understand how the body habituates to cold weather.
From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2020
But much of it comes from a deep religious faith that habituates the heart in a certain manner — the character that comes from a long obedience in the same direction.
From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2019
Lardellier compares modern technology to “an umbilical cord”— it “nourishes” and “calms” those who use it, but also habituates them to a state of constant “reassurance.”
From Slate ● Sep. 10, 2015
The life of an Overlander in the bush is one of great excitement which constantly calls every energy into action, is full of romantic and novel situations, and habituates the mind to self-possession and command.
From Journals of Two Expeditions of Discovery in North-West and Western Australia, Volume 2 by Grey, George
People have become habituated to this, tolerate it, factor it in.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 2, 2026
Now, 25 years after starting her pioneering research on savannah chimps, which had never before been habituated to observers, primatologist Jill Pruetz has a wealth of data.
From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026
Lead researcher, Prof Gillian Forrester explained that being a reporter and broadcaster has probably made me "quite habituated to being put in stressful positions".
From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025
The University of Zurich team observed a group of bonobos from a project by local biologists that had habituated the animals over 10 to 15 years, depending on the group.
From Salon ● May 29, 2025
“Once habituated to his distrustful manner,” said I, “I have done very well.”
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
Researchers started habituating the chimps to the presence of humans in 1987.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024
This is the second attempt at habituating Mpungwe.
From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2024
Postal Service hitting record levels, the industry where nearly three-quarters of e-commerce companies offer some sort of free shipping is rethinking the financial cost of habituating shoppers to free shipping.
From Reuters ● Mar. 24, 2023
Boat strikes also kill manatees, so further habituating them to vessels or people could be deadly.
From New York Times ● Dec. 7, 2021
My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age; and not the golden age either; it comprised an irksome struggle with difficulties in habituating myself to new rules and unwonted tasks.
From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë
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.
