household
Americannoun
adjective
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of or relating to a household.
household furniture.
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for use in maintaining a home, especially for use in cooking, cleaning, laundering, repairing, etc., in the home.
a household bleach.
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common or usual; ordinary.
noun
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the people living together in one house collectively
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(modifier) of, relating to, or used in the running of a household; domestic
household management
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of household
First recorded in 1350–1400, household is from the Middle English word houshold. See house, hold 1
Explanation
How many people does your house hold? That’s your household! A household refers to a family or group of people living together. It’s a social unit under one roof. All the people living in your house, including servants, make up your household. Don’t have any servants? Well, your roommates count as part of your household, too. In the middle of the night, your household might be asleep. Your household income could determine whether or not you get the pool in the backyard. Household can also be an adjective to describe — you guessed it — things that are in your house, like household appliances or household furniture.
Vocabulary lists containing household
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.
It’s not easy to leave one’s abode as the eldest daughter in a Mexican household, she says.
From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 1, 2026
Williams’s older brother used the press to launch a modest job-printing business, but in 1861 he joined the Union Army, leaving the household without a breadwinner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 30, 2026
Bill payers are being urged to submit a meter reading as household energy prices rise by 13% for millions of people in England, Scotland and Wales on Wednesday.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
"There were 11 people in my household; only two of us survived because we were at work," Wilker Molalla told AFP.
From Barron's • Jun. 29, 2026
Soon enough, there’s a full household of noisy little Florentines.
From "The Mona Lisa Vanishes" by Nicholas Day
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.
