occupant
Americannoun
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occupants
plural
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a person, family, group, or organization that lives in, occupies, or has quarters or space in or on something.
the occupant of a taxicab; the occupants of the building.
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a tenant of a house, estate, office, etc.; resident.
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Law.
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an owner through occupancy.
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one who is in actual possession.
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noun
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a person, thing, etc, holding a position or place
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law a person who has possession of something, esp an estate, house, etc; tenant
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law a person who acquires by occupancy the title to something previously without an owner
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of occupant
1590–1600; < Middle French occupant, present participle of occuper. See occupy, -ant
Explanation
An occupant is someone who lives or stays at a place for awhile. A lot of your junk mail is addressed "To occupant" because the sender doesn't know who lives at your address. Being an occupant means you're occupying a place. This has nothing to do with owning a house or renting an apartment; if you live there, you're an occupant. There are other occupants too, as in politics. The President is often called "the current occupant of the White House," who replaced the former occupant. That kind of occupant has as much to do with politics as living space.
Vocabulary lists containing occupant
"Of Mice and Men"
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"Building Design and Construction Handbook," Vocabulary from Section 1
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"The Black Ferris" by Ray Bradbury
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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:
Davis is the only occupant of the Cadillac still alive today.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
And many believe he will want a new chancellor to replace the current occupant of Number 11 Downing Street, Rachel Reeves.
From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026
The aforementioned “wig room” has been outfitted with an enormous mirror and a built-in vanity perfect for trying on different styles—however a future occupant could easily use this space as a flex room or office.
From MarketWatch ● Jun. 23, 2026
All living US ex-presidents -- with the notable absence of current White House occupant Donald Trump -- joined a star-studded lineup Thursday for the opening of Barack Obama's presidential center in Chicago.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
Jon went from one mews to another, hooding each occupant and carrying it to his tour van.
From "Frightful's Mountain" by Jean Craighead George
When the North Tower was struck and occupants of the South Tower were told to remain in place, Rescorla ordered his people to evacuate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 11, 2026
But one of the two occupants of the truck "did not know who that transmission was intended for."
From Barron's ● Aug. 27, 2026
Or landlords can take master-metered utilities and split them up based on apartment size or number of occupants, as in Porter’s building, a practice called RUBS, short for ratio utility billing system.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 26, 2026
If your father-in-law’s occupants are tenants, it’s more complicated.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 24, 2026
The men immediately spur their horses down the main road of Belle Plain and then into the countryside, knocking on farmhouse doors and questioning the occupants.
From "Lincoln's Last Days: The Shocking Assassination that Changed America Forever" by Bill O'Reilly
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.
