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
- unhabituated adjective
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
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Dear Martin
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Primates
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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.
Then there are habits: we can habituate ourselves to speed - so fast can feel slow, and vice versa, depending on what you're used to.
From BBC • Dec. 10, 2025
"By contrast, by mimicking the smell of plants herbivore naturally encounter, and avoid in day-to-day foraging, our approach works with the natural motivators of these animals, with herbivores less likely to habituate to these smells."
From Science Daily • Feb. 2, 2024
But enough venues are starting to ask for digital passes to worry some privacy advocates, who fear the trend could habituate consumers to constant tracking.
From Seattle Times • Aug. 10, 2021
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
But also habituate their young souls to be awake to and to entertain a horror for oppression and iniquity.
From The Iron Pincers or Mylio and Karvel A Tale of the Albigensian Crusades by Sue, Eugène
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.
