inhabit
Americanverb (used with object)
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inhabits,
present (3rd person singular)
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inhabited,
past participle, past
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inhabiting
present participle
verb (used without object)
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inhabits,
present (3rd person singular)
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inhabited,
past participle, past
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inhabiting
present participle
verb
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(tr) to live or dwell in; occupy
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archaic (intr) to abide or dwell
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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inhabitabilitynoun
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inhabitationnoun
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preinhabitationnoun
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preinhabitverb (used with object)
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reinhabitverb (used with object)
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inhabitableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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inhabitsimple
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inhabitssimple
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have inhabitedperfect
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has inhabitedperfect
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am inhabitingprogressive
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are inhabitingprogressive
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is inhabitingprogressive
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have been inhabitingperfect progressive
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has been inhabitingperfect progressive
Past
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inhabitedsimple
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had inhabitedperfect
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was inhabitingprogressive
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were inhabitingprogressive
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had been inhabitingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of inhabit
First recorded in 1325–75; from Latin inhabitāre, equivalent to in- in- 2 + habitāre “to dwell” ( see habit 2); replacing Middle English enhabiten, from Middle French enhabiter, from Latin as above
Explanation
When you inhabit a place, you live there. When actors inhabit their roles, they seem to become the characters, no longer actors reciting their lines. It is like they live the life of the character. The verb inhabit comes from the Old French enhabiter, meaning “dwell in.” You can inhabit an actual place, like a home, a cave, or a neighborhood. You can also inhabit an imaginary world, like those who choose to inhabit cyberspace with a made-up persona, telling about experiences that are nothing like the person's real life. Actors who truly inhabit their roles sometimes struggle to return to reality after a movie or television show wraps.
Vocabulary lists containing inhabit
"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from all 4 Acts
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"The Crucible" -- Vocabulary from Act 1
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List 2
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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:
They learn to inhabit perspectives that are not their own, and to recognize the humanity within them.
From Salon ● Jul. 30, 2026
At this rainforest-like indoor farm, where creatures such as coral, tropical fish and sea cucumbers inhabit different aquariums, Kinjo bred "miracle coral" with extra resistance to warmer water.
From Barron's ● Jul. 29, 2026
The internet is no longer just a network of information or communication platforms; it is gradually evolving into a landscape people emotionally navigate and fully inhabit.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 26, 2026
In demonstrating what she herself loves about the Great Books, Ms. Kanakia helps readers viscerally inhabit that love.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
This was the Florida you fly over, wondering why people ever thought to inhabit this peninsula.
From "Paper Towns" by John Green
One occurs mainly in China, while the other inhabits the Himalayan foothills across parts of Nepal, India, Bhutan, and Myanmar.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 26, 2026
But Seemiller argues that’s no longer the landscape Gen Z inhabits.
From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026
The cerebral Cady that Bardem inhabits spent nearly two decades in prison convicted for his wife’s murder.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2026
But having grown up in less-privileged circumstances, she’s uneasy in the world she now inhabits and bristles at the condescending manner of her mother-in-law.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 5, 2026
“He inhabits every boundary stone around the city,” Frank said.
From "The Son of Neptune" by Rick Riordan
Writer-director Adam Meeks has set out to make a drama-documentary hybrid, and this is his simple opening gambit, accustoming us to seeing the characters he has created enmeshed in a world inhabited by real people.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
The species, which still exists, once inhabited the Southwestern region including Los Angeles.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026
The Chengjiang fossils preserve evidence of more than 200 types of animals that inhabited the oceans over 500 million years ago.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 4, 2026
The Jail Time Records studio is rudimentary - a small, sweaty recording booth attached to a room inhabited by a solitary computer.
From BBC ● Jul. 26, 2026
This was usually held to lie in the southern hemisphere, and was sometimes thought to be inhabited.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
The brisk, absurdist tale sketches the duo’s difficulties in inhabiting their newly assumed roles and in the provisional nature of role-playing in general.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 4, 2026
Her comedy is dialectical, it rides on characters talking at cross purposes, inhabiting separate clashing realities.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 14, 2026
When the nefarious Pilkington Industries repossesses Manor Farm after a failure to make payments, the animals inhabiting the stead are nearly trucked off to their demise.
From Salon ● May 3, 2026
The man who left Scotland with just enough cash to place a wild bet on himself still appreciates the pay-offs from inhabiting this high-pressure world where his healing hands can provide a critical assist.
From BBC ● Apr. 14, 2026
This is a tropical or subtropical insect, inhabiting South and Central America and Mexico, and in the United States normally restricted to the Southwest.
From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson
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.
