homelike
Americanadjective
Usage
What does homelike mean? Homelike is used to describe places that feel like a home, especially one’s own home. In many cases, it means the same thing as homey, which is used to describe a place as cozy, comfortable, and inviting. A person might try to make their place (or a particular room in it) more homelike, typically by decorating it in a way that makes it cozier or more comfortable. Homelike can also be used to describe a place that’s not a home but that’s comfortable and inviting like your own home, such as a hotel room. Example: The new fireplace makes the living room feel so homelike.
Related Words
See homely.
Other Word Forms
- homelikeness noun
Etymology
Origin of homelike
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.
When he composed a portrait of a mother and father holding their deceased child, Van Der Zee placed a radio in frame to make the funerary scene appear more homelike.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 31, 2025
Some seek to expand funding or services, including for chaplains, mental health treatment, training and pay; and programs that allow juveniles in hardened facilities transition to homelike settings for good behavior.
From Washington Times • Jan. 31, 2023
The agreement lays out a four-year plan to reduce the use of force against juveniles, to create a more homelike setting and to boost educational and mental health services.
From Los Angeles Times • Sep. 18, 2021
Advocates for children say improved mental health care and other services could allow more children to return home sooner or live in a more homelike setting with foster parents.
From Seattle Times • Sep. 11, 2020
We did not do this because we were hungry, but out of a need to recapture what was most homelike to us.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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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.