homebody
Americannoun
-
homebodies
plural
noun
Usage
What is a homebody? A homebody is a person who enjoys being at home and doing activities that center around the home. If your ideal day includes staying home and working on home improvement projects, indulging in hobbies, or reading and playing video games, you might call yourself a homebody. While homebodies go out with friends and travel, their preference is staying at home, often alone or with close family. That preference is important. Sometimes homebody is applied to people with a mental illness, like agoraphobia, or a physical disability that keeps them at home, but that would be inaccurate. A homebody prefers to stay at home. If a disability keeps someone at home most of the time when they’d rather be traveling the world, for example, they are not a homebody. Equally, if someone is always away from home because they have to be but they want to be home, they still might call themselves a homebody. Example: Marvin was a real homebody, preferring to spend his days cooking in his kitchen for his family and friends.
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of homebody
Explanation
Do you prefer staying in with your cat on Saturday nights, rather than going out to crowded parties? If so, you might call yourself a homebody, someone who favors being in the place where they live. Use the informal homebody for anyone who typically opts for staying home instead of going out. We often think of homebodies as being unadventurous ("Want to come with me to Morocco?" "No thanks, I'm a bit of a homebody!"), and while most of us are comfortable at home, a homebody feels especially safe, content, and happy there. The first recorded use of this North American word was in 1821.
Vocabulary lists containing homebody
To All the Boys I've Loved Before
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Clairboyance
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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.
See Examples For:
“It’s been very hard to decide to let it go. I’m a real sort-of homebody and creature of habit,” she shared.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 7, 2026
I’m such a homebody, so I typically work out at home.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 19, 2026
While you’re more of a homebody in your personal life, “Black Star” is very much a “we outside” type of album from the high energy of the production and the in-your-face lyrics.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2025
She calls herself a "homebody" but still likes going to gigs and admitted the modelling story was a great ice-breaker at "awkward" interviews or even on dates.
From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2025
You could glance at Gus and never know he’d been sick, but I carried my disease with me on the outside, which is part of why I’d become a homebody in the first place.
From "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green
A nation of former homebodies has become one of zealous and moneyed international travelers, infiltrating every cobblestoned corner of Europe and rapidly filling lesser-known destinations.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026
A year after racking up more miles than any team in the NFL, the Chargers are homebodies.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2026
Targeting frequent travelers, the Bilt points may not be ideal for homebodies who spend mostly on groceries.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2025
Keying in on personality type may sound difficult, but the researchers also found some clues as to how to pinpoint the wanderers and homebodies.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 27, 2024
I don't know have any homes been broken up this way, but I will say that Marsailles and Harlem would of listened better to the patiently waiting homebodies.
From Believe You Me! by Nina Wilcox Putnam
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.
