habitué

American  

[huh-bich-oo-ey, -bich-oo-ey, a-bee-twey] / həˈbɪtʃ uˌeɪ, -ˌbɪtʃ uˈeɪ, a biˈtweɪ /

noun

habitués plural

1. a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

   a habitué of art galleries.

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habitué British  

/ həˈbɪtjʊˌeɪ /

noun

1. a frequent visitor to a place

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• habitués
  plural

Etymology

Origin of habitué

First recorded in 1810–20; from French, noun use of masculine past participle of habituer, from Late Latin habituāre; see habituate

Explanation

A habitué is a frequent and well-known patron of a particular place. If you walk into a restaurant, and the entire staff waves and says your name, you are likely a habitué. The English habitué is spelled and pronounced the same as the 200-year-old French word (the accent is optional), which means "accustomed." The most famous habitué in American sitcom history is probably Norm Peterson of Cheers, whose arrival was always greeted by a chorus of patrons shouting "Norm!" Other, less French-sounding words for this famous fellow might be fixture or regular.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

habitué habitués

The older painter, though remaining a salon habitué, lent a Morisot painting he owned to the show.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 25, 2025

The longtime habitué of Griffith Park was a symbol of a ferality lurking under L.A.’s sheen.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 1, 2023

While researching, Peters also stumbled across the green darner dragonfly: Washington’s state insect; a habitué of lakes, ponds and springs; and a rich symbol.

From Seattle Times ● Dec. 9, 2022

But Albarado — old, broken up and a habitué of the bush circuit — summoned his instincts of old.

From New York Times ● Oct. 3, 2020

The language of dramatic and operatic criticism in Paris is now inexplicable to any one but an habitué.

From The International Monthly, Volume 4, No. 1, August, 1851 by Various

His two daughters attend private schools, while he and his wife, Vivian, are habitués of the local country club.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026

That is hardly news to habitués of the Marché d’Aligre, Paris’s oldest food market, founded in 1779.

From New York Times ● Dec. 22, 2021

Pinsker, lovingly attentive to the habitués of his cafés, leaves the economics of the cafés quite shadowy.

From The New Yorker ● Dec. 17, 2018

And shouldn’t there have been more YouTube habitués in attendance at Trillectro to do that absorbing?

From Washington Post ● Sep. 23, 2018

The table d'hôte is composed of a circle of habitués, varied by occasional visitors, who in time become, perhaps, members of the circle.

From Beethoven: A Memoir (2nd Ed.) by Graeme, Elliott