inhabit
Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
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:
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
The most important thing is to ensure that once the mining has been conducted, the habitat can be returned to a state where the desert rain frog can inhabit it, he said.
From BBC ● Jul. 9, 2026
Right, he eventually became exactly the adult who would inhabit that world.
From Salon ● Jul. 5, 2026
Some are solitary wanderers; most inhabit communal clusters, huddling together, drifting endlessly in the great cosmic dark.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
This is one smart, encompassing album about the world this talented singer-songwriter inhabits.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 20, 2026
It feels less carefully constructed than slowly formed - shaped long before the runways and fashion campaigns, in a life far removed from the one she inhabits now.
From BBC ● May 9, 2026
In rehearsal, Mays fully inhabits his role — and his costume — moving with a lithe formality as he strives to eavesdrop on Mozart and Constanze.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 13, 2026
Stellan Skarsgård inhabits this rascal perfectly: bluff, hearty, a bit arrogant and slightly pathetic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2025
In the front of the room, Ellegua, god of the crossroads, inhabits the clay eggs in nine rustic bowls of varying sizes.
From "Dreaming in Cuban" by Cristina García
Like many Americans, she read “Little House in the Big Woods” when she was a child and immediately fell in love with Laura “Half-pint” Ingalls, her family, friends and the world they inhabited.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2026
She doesn't yet know that the inspection determined several columns in her house are compromised and it shouldn't be inhabited because they could give way.
From Barron's ● Jul. 8, 2026
However, their presence on an island inhabited by people strongly suggests an intentional and ongoing relationship.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 5, 2026
Low-Earth orbit—the zone inhabited by the satellites that give us GPS, remote broadband and weather forecasts—is getting cluttered.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 11, 2026
Did they believe that walnut trees were inhabited by spirits?
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
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
Halliday: I physically was a different character when I was in the scenes in Toronto versus when I was in Gilead because I was inhabiting the space in a very different way.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Rhinoceroses have a long evolutionary history spanning more than 40 million years, once inhabiting nearly every continent except South America and Antarctica.
From Science Daily ● Mar. 24, 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.
