habituate

American  

[huh-bich-oo-eyt] / həˈbɪtʃ uˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• habituates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• habituated,
  past participle,  past
• habituating
  present participle

1. to accustom (a person, the mind, etc.), as to a particular situation.

   Wealth habituated him to luxury.

   Synonyms:

   train, acclimate, familiarize

2. Archaic. to frequent.

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verb (used without object)

• habituates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• habituated,
  past participle,  past
• habituating
  present participle

1. to cause habituation, physiologically or psychologically.

habituate British  

/ həˈbɪtjʊˌeɪt /

verb

1. to accustom; make used (to)

2. archaic to frequent

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unhabituated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• habituating
  present
• habituated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• habituate
  simple
• habituates
  simple
• have habituated
  perfect
• has habituated
  perfect
• am habituating
  progressive
• are habituating
  progressive
• is habituating
  progressive
• have been habituating
  perfect progressive
• has been habituating
  perfect progressive

Past

• habituated
  simple
• had habituated
  perfect
• was habituating
  progressive
• were habituating
  progressive
• had been habituating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will habituate
  simple
• will have habituated
  perfect
• will be habituating
  progressive
• will have been habituating
  perfect progressive

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

habituate habituates habituated habituating

Witchel says we can "habituate" to a train noise, which becomes "much easier to put up with than if someone has a loud conversation".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

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

"Animals tend to habituate to these unnatural cues and so deterrent effects are only temporary," he said.

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

Eh well, in voyage one must habituate himself to all!

From Mr. Punch in the Highlands by Various

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

Douglas and Damon so fully inhabit their roles that the audience soon habituates to the novelty of seeing two such traditionally macho actors cast as gay lovers.

From Slate ● May 24, 2013

A long Course of Hopes and Expectations fixes the Idea in our Minds, and habituates us to a Fondness of the Person beloved.

From The Spectator, Volume 2. by Joseph Addison

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

The process might actually begin much earlier than previously thought, they said, notably when animals became habituated to human environments.

From BBC ● Nov. 20, 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

We’ve had two years of people habituating more and more in the direction of shopping online.

From New York Times ● Feb. 5, 2022

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

Related Words

• accustom