household
Americannoun
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households
plural
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.
See Examples For:
Alongside a rise in global borrowing costs and mortgage rates driven by geopolitical volatility, increasing energy bills are set to continue dragging on household purchasing power.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
Huang may not be a household name on the same level as Elon Musk or Mark Zuckerberg.
From BBC ● Nov. 12, 2026
While the reading reflected a significant moderation in energy price increases, food prices shot higher with medical care, household furnishings and several other categories.
From Barron's ● Nov. 11, 2026
My household, for the record, has a succession plan.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026
But he became more than a household name, more than the equivalent of a pop star.
From "Endgame" by Frank Brady
As inflation pushes wages higher, households find themselves paying higher marginal rates.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 12, 2026
A total of 35,000 households were assessed as being homeless or threatened with homelessness in 2025-26.
From BBC ● Nov. 11, 2026
Boomer households spent more per trip on average than millennial households in 2024, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics consumer-expenditure data.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 10, 2026
“It gives households, businesses, and the financial sector time to adjust,” Paulson said in remarks at an event in Pennsylvania.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 10, 2026
Some of the men shared the meat among several households, and the rest was given to the women to be cooked for the feast.
From "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
