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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inhabitableadjective
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preinhabitationnoun
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inhabitabilitynoun
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preinhabitverb (used with object)
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reinhabitverb (used with object)
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inhabitationnoun
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have inhabitedperfect
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has inhabitedperfect 3rd person singular
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inhabitssingular 3rd person
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has been inhabitingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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are inhabitingprogressive
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inhabitingparticiple
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am inhabitingprogressive 1st person singular
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have been inhabitingperfect progressive
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is inhabitingprogressive 3rd person singular
Past
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had inhabitedperfect
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were inhabitingprogressive plural
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inhabitedparticiple
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was inhabitingprogressive singular
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inhabitedsimple
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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.
To inhabit someone else’s life, she had to sound different, too.
From Los Angeles Times • May 8, 2026
The team then compared these malaria risk estimates with a separate reconstruction of the environments early humans were able to inhabit across the same region and time frame.
From Science Daily • May 3, 2026
Not to debate it, not to tolerate it, but to actually inhabit it.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 24, 2026
It is a community filled with rattled tech workers who inhabit a region built on boom-and-bust cycles.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 18, 2026
Lately Gogol has started to notice a trend: now that they inhabit this world of couples, dinner party small talk gravitates to the naming of children.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
