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:
While they may inhabit a different world than the rest of us in other respects, they live and die along with the rest of the investment world when it comes to investing.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 24, 2026
Seventeen other penguin species live across the Southern Hemisphere, and many inhabit isolated islands that are difficult for scientists to reach and study.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
It was so grounded that it was easy to inhabit this character.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 14, 2026
And intriguing developments—such as Christopher’s newfound magical ability to inhabit the minds of animals or the introduction of a villain finally worth rooting against—don’t yet cohere into a deeper meaning.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026
I did manage to read about the golden seal, which does not inhabit our waters.
From "Black Star, Bright Dawn" by Scott O'Dell
Victoria Newhouse’s classic book “Art and the Power of Placement” is all about how the impact of an artwork is affected by the space it inhabits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026
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
“Whatever one’s interpretation of the relationships that she inhabits within the story, her influence was substantial,” Haig adds.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 29, 2026
After settling the issue of the pear with Zach, he turns to Britney Harron, who fully inhabits her role as Truman Drama’s designated diva.
From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove
When they eventually arrive, they will have to navigate through a narrow gap created in the atoll's reef by the British in 1963 - the last time the island was inhabited.
From BBC ● Oct. 10, 2026
The authorities have not divulged which inmates had inhabited the luxury accommodation, nor said what will happen to them now.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
From 1948 to 1974, as gatekeeper at Airlie Gardens, Evans inhabited a neoclassical Eden where, locally celebrated, she made and sold her work.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Indigenous people first inhabited the region around 30,000 years ago.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 3, 2026
Over it all rise the grim, red, elaborate walls of the Royal House, which though in perpetual use is inhabited by no one beside the king himself.
From "The Left Hand of Darkness" by Ursula K. Le Guin
The fossils indicate that the birds inhabiting New Zealand a million years ago were substantially different from those present when people eventually arrived.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 23, 2026
Dame Felicity's agent told the BBC that "in her work, she was sublime; inhabiting every performance with precision, depth and beauty".
From BBC ● May 17, 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
One posits the existence of billions of universes, arguing that happenstance alone accounts for the improbability of our inhabiting this one.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 16, 2026
The greatest American scientist, the most deft diplomat, the most accomplished prose stylist, the sharpest wit, Franklin defied all the categories by inhabiting them all with such distinction and nonchalant grace.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
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.
