niche
Americannoun
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an ornamental recess in a wall or the like, usually semicircular in plan and arched, as for a statue or other decorative object.
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a place or position suitable or appropriate for a person or thing.
to find one's niche in the business world.
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a distinct segment of a market.
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Ecology. ecological niche.
adjective
verb (used with object)
noun
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a recess in a wall, esp one that contains a statue
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any similar recess, such as one in a rock face
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a position particularly suitable for the person occupying it
he found his niche in politics
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(modifier) relating to or aimed at a small specialized group or market
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ecology the role of a plant or animal within its community and habitat, which determines its activities, relationships with other organisms, etc
verb
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The function or position of a species within an ecological community. A species's niche includes the physical environment to which it has become adapted as well as its role as producer and consumer of food resources.
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See also competitive exclusion principle
Usage
What does niche mean? A niche is a place or position that’s particularly appropriate for someone or something, especially due to being very specific and different from others. Niche often refers to a position or interest that allows someone or something to thrive in a particular environment. It’s especially used in the context of people’s careers to refer to the specific position, occupation, or business that will set them apart from others and allow them to be successful. When someone tells you to “find your niche,” they mean you should find the very specific activity or position that sets you apart and in which you can find success or fulfillment. Niche can also refer to a very specific part of the consumer market, as in My startup occupies a niche in the dry cleaning chemicals industry. In ecology, niche refers to the position or function that an organism occupies within its environment among other species of plants and animals. The original, literal sense of niche refers to recess in a wall, especially one for the display of decorative objects, such as statues. Much less commonly, niche can be used as a verb meaning to place something in this kind of niche. Niche is commonly used as an adjective to describe something that has very specific appeal, as inniche market or niche interests. The correct pronunciation of niche can be either nich or neesh. Example: I started my bakery by selling all kinds of baked goods, but then I found my niche—making superhero-themed cupcakes.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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nichesimple
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nichessimple
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have nichedperfect
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has nichedperfect
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am nichingprogressive
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are nichingprogressive
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is nichingprogressive
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have been nichingperfect progressive
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has been nichingperfect progressive
Past
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nichedsimple
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had nichedperfect
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was nichingprogressive
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were nichingprogressive
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had been nichingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of niche
First recorded in 1605–15; from French, Middle French, back formation from nicher “to make a nest,” from Vulgar Latin nīdiculāre (unrecorded), derivative of Latin nīdus nest
Explanation
A niche is a space that's all your own, from a literal corner or enclosure to some kind of professional specialty. Like finding a niche in the scented soaps market with peanut butter body wash and winning over a loyal, if not nutty, following. In the 1600s, niche was first recorded as meaning a “shallow recess in a wall." The figurative sense of the word didn’t come about for another century. So today, you can use niche literally to refer to a cranny or crevice, or figuratively to talk about an activity or role in life that is particularly suited a person’s interests or talents. Synonyms range from alcove and compartment to nook and opening.
Vocabulary lists containing niche
"The Cask of Amontillado"
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Built To Last: Architectural Parlance
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Life Science: Ecosystems
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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:
“Things hadn’t splintered out into a zillion niche locations just quite yet,” Adkins said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 22, 2026
"You think bodice rippers, contemporary things, fantasy. It covers a broad spectrum. So it's not maybe as niche as you think initially."
From BBC ● Jul. 12, 2026
Sperling compared this dramatic ecological shift to the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs 65 million years ago, "where mammals essentially took over and never gave up that niche to reptiles again."
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
But Fiat thinks this is where it can find a niche, even in a country where big pickups and SUVs rule the road.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
Faramir was sitting there in his chair, and the lamp had been rekindled in its niche above his head.
From "The Two Towers" by J. R. R. Tolkien
As I stared into empty niches that once contained massive wooden statues of saints, I meditated on how fragile our democracy is.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 4, 2026
According to the researchers, this prolonged growth period may have helped younger tyrannosaurs occupy different ecological niches as they matured.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 22, 2026
There should be enough room for other companies to carve out and maintain profitable niches.
From Barron's ● May 12, 2026
Though hardly invincible, vertical software companies carry some inherent advantages, having carved out niches in narrow slices of the economy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 26, 2026
Slowly he made his way upwards, like a long black reptile, his claws seeking hidden niches and crevices in the sandstone.
From "Redwall" by Brian Jacques
Other creatives even blend the niched looks with well-known fairy tales or Disney characters.
From Fox News ● Jan. 26, 2021
“I don’t like being niched as a South Asian comic, man,” he says.
From Washington Post ● Sep. 8, 2016
United Passions has a small, niched Eastern European showing well away from the action.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2014
That may still be true…although we’ve seen everything else in society fragmented, niched and marketized.
From Time ● Oct. 22, 2013
It was a week of delicious happiness, niched amid the eternal mountains, fused with skies and waters.
From Dreamers of the Ghetto by Zangwill, Israel
But I think it was also resistance to the niching and atomizing of life and time itself by social media, tabloid scandal, and other forms of goldfish-like attention.
From Slate ● Dec. 23, 2015
Call it niching down to reach a billion.
From Forbes ● Oct. 28, 2014
Still, I had come to Cairo hoping for a step forward in a strategy that had been niching ahead for four years.
From Time Magazine Archive
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.
