homebody
Americannoun
plural
homebodiesnoun
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.
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.
“These days, Mack seems totally happy being the homebody dad hanging with his kids, 3-year-old Dakota and 2-year-old Carson,” the Cosmopolitan writer noted.
From MarketWatch • Mar. 20, 2026
I’m such a homebody, so I typically work out at home.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jan. 19, 2026
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
The pair had already debated local hiking spots, yet when one said she leaned homebody and the other favored nights out, our trainees needed help.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 12, 2025
Unlike his mentor, Lawrence would be an academic homebody all his life, preferring to remain in place rather than move on.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
