habituate

American  

[huh-bich-oo-eyt] / həˈbɪtʃ uˌeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• habituates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• habituated,
  past participle,  past
• habituating
  present participle

1. to accustom (a person, the mind, etc.), as to a particular situation.

   Wealth habituated him to luxury.

   Synonyms:

   train, acclimate, familiarize

2. Archaic. to frequent.

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verb (used without object)

• habituates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• habituated,
  past participle,  past
• habituating
  present participle

1. to cause habituation, physiologically or psychologically.

habituate British  

/ həˈbɪtjʊˌeɪt /

verb

1. to accustom; make used (to)

2. archaic to frequent

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unhabituated
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• habituating
  present
• habituated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• habituate
  simple
• habituates
  simple
• have habituated
  perfect
• has habituated
  perfect
• am habituating
  progressive
• are habituating
  progressive
• is habituating
  progressive
• have been habituating
  perfect progressive
• has been habituating
  perfect progressive

Past

• habituated
  simple
• had habituated
  perfect
• was habituating
  progressive
• were habituating
  progressive
• had been habituating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will habituate
  simple
• will have habituated
  perfect
• will be habituating
  progressive
• will have been habituating
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of habituate

1520–30; < Late Latin habituātus conditioned, constituted, (past participle of habituāre ), equivalent to habitu ( s ) habit ¹ + -ātus -ate ¹

Explanation

When you habituate something, you're helping it to get accustomed to a new home. Workers in zoos spend a lot of time habituating animals. The word "habit" in habituate is a clue to its meaning — by habituating, you're helping a creature or person get used to new surroundings and establish new habits, especially in a new habitat (home). If your dog spends the night with a friend, you might bring some of his toys to habituate him and make him feel comfortable. It takes a lot of time for a new cat to be habituated to a home. When you habituate something, you're helping it feel comfortable and accustomed to a new place.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

habituate habituates habituated habituating

Witchel says we can "habituate" to a train noise, which becomes "much easier to put up with than if someone has a loud conversation".

From BBC ● Aug. 5, 2026

"In earlier cleaner wrasse mirror studies, the procedure was typically the fish see a mirror for several days, they habituate to it and stop reacting socially, and a mark is added," Dr. Sogawa explained.

From Science Daily ● Feb. 23, 2026

The media has a responsibility to fight back in kind, and at least try to habituate people to recognizing and confronting the truth.

From Salon ● Mar. 24, 2024

Other sloths that will return to the wild receive numbers instead of names because the Rodriguezes do not want them to habituate to people.

From Reuters ● Aug. 4, 2021

But man is of a ductile nature—a creature of habit, and may almost habituate himself to anything.

From The Emigrant's Lost Son or, Life Alone in the Forest by Anonymous

It said cat food is not a natural part of the nene diet, and eating at the feeding stations habituates nene to people and makes them reliant on the provided food.

From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2023

Researchers don’t fully understand how the body habituates to cold weather.

From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2020

But much of it comes from a deep religious faith that habituates the heart in a certain manner — the character that comes from a long obedience in the same direction.

From Washington Post ● Jul. 29, 2019

Douglas and Damon so fully inhabit their roles that the audience soon habituates to the novelty of seeing two such traditionally macho actors cast as gay lovers.

From Slate ● May 24, 2013

The reader will now perceive the great moral evil arising from this vice, which is, that it habituates people to falsehood.

From Diary in America, Series Two by Frederick Marryat

The mood toggles between cozily habituated and heavy.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026

Blackwell said she has seen cats who have been habituated to harness wearing seemingly very happy to explore mountain ranges, but has also seen clearly unhappy cats being walked on busy streets with heavy traffic.

From BBC ● Apr. 5, 2026

Investors are habituated to buying into weakness caused by geopolitical tumult but JPMorgan warns it may be a bit early to jump back on board Europe.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 4, 2026

Now, 25 years after starting her pioneering research on savannah chimps, which had never before been habituated to observers, primatologist Jill Pruetz has a wealth of data.

From Barron's ● Jan. 15, 2026

“Once habituated to his distrustful manner,” said I, “I have done very well.”

From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens

Researchers started habituating the chimps to the presence of humans in 1987.

From Science Daily ● Mar. 14, 2024

This is the second attempt at habituating Mpungwe.

From BBC ● Jan. 6, 2024

Postal Service hitting record levels, the industry where nearly three-quarters of e-commerce companies offer some sort of free shipping is rethinking the financial cost of habituating shoppers to free shipping.

From Reuters ● Mar. 24, 2023

As citizens who care about protecting the wildlife around us, we can best ensure bears’ safety by doing everything we can to avoid habituating them.

From Washington Times ● Aug. 2, 2017

My first quarter at Lowood seemed an age; and not the golden age either; it comprised an irksome struggle with difficulties in habituating myself to new rules and unwonted tasks.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Related Words

• accustom