resort
Americanverb (used without object)
-
resorts,
present (3rd person singular)
-
resorted,
past participle, past
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resorting
present participle
-
to have recourse for use, help, or accomplishing something, often as a final available option or resource.
to resort to war.
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to go, especially frequently or customarily.
a beach to which many people resort.
noun
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resorts
plural
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a place to which people frequently or generally go for relaxation or pleasure, especially one providing rest and recreation facilities for vacationers.
a popular winter resort.
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habitual or general going, as to a place or person.
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use of or appeal to some person or thing for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.; resource.
to have resort to force;
a court of last resort.
-
a person or thing resorted to for aid, satisfaction, service, etc.
verb
-
(usually foll by to) to have recourse (to) for help, use, etc
to resort to violence
-
to go, esp often or habitually; repair
to resort to the beach
noun
-
a place to which many people go for recreation, rest, etc
a holiday resort
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the use of something as a means, help, or recourse
-
the act of going to a place, esp for recreation, rest, etc
-
the last possible course of action open to one
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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resortsimple
-
resortssimple
-
have resortedperfect
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has resortedperfect
-
am resortingprogressive
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are resortingprogressive
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is resortingprogressive
-
have been resortingperfect progressive
-
has been resortingperfect progressive
Past
-
resortedsimple
-
had resortedperfect
-
was resortingprogressive
-
were resortingprogressive
-
had been resortingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of resort
First recorded in 1325–75; (for the verb) Middle English resorten, from Old French resortir, from re- re- + sortir “to go out, leave, escape” (perhaps ultimately from Latin sortīrī “to draw lots”); noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
The noun resort means "turning to something or someone else for assistance." You tried everything to figure out your math homework on your own, so asking your dad for help was your last resort. Resort, pronounced "re-ZORT," is also a verb that means "to adopt a course of action to improve your situation." It's when you use that last resort: if you can't convince your mom to let you go rock-climbing, you will resort to begging. Resort also means a fancy hotel, usually in a very scenic location, or a place you go often — when your friends didn't know where you were, they checked your resorts: the gym and the park.
Vocabulary lists containing resort
"Arachne"
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Marbury v. Madison (1803)
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"A Poem for My Librarian, Mrs. Long," Vocabulary from the poem
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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:
Nine people were killed Sunday when the Learjet they were traveling in plummeted into a neighborhood in southern Florida, just miles from US President Donald Trump's resort home of Mar-a-Lago, officials said.
From Barron's ● Nov. 1, 2026
Moreover, the Qatar golf resort deal is not the only one of its kind.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
This month, the opening of a new outpost of Canyon Ranch, the wellness resort popular with celebrities and spa junkies, kicks off a series of luxury arrivals.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 29, 2026
The layoffs are limited to the experiences division, which includes Disney’s theme parks, cruise line and Aulani resort and spa in Hawaii.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
For years he’d lived in my mind as a last resort, a lever I could pull when my back was against the wall.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
Clay Rikard, senior vice president of system planning at Southern, said the company has a more than 99% voluntary-agreement rate with landowners and rarely resorts to condemnation.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026
The luxury inn, where rooms start at about $1,300 a night, was one of Orange County’s first large-scale oceanfront resorts when it opened in 1984 on a bluff overlooking the Pacific in Dana Point.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
MGM Resorts MGM -2.57%decrease; down pointing triangle International recorded lower quarterly revenue, hurt by a decline in room rates at its resorts on the Las Vegas strip.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
As higher costs and global turmoil leave consumers stressed, the fly-and-lie vacation is growing more appealing, even to travel snobs — boosting interest in all-inclusive resorts among higher-end customers and larger hotel operators.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 23, 2026
After that, the big ones started to fall: large-scale resorts, fly-in luxury cottages, and wilderness getaways for stressed businessmen and their foreign investors.
From "The Marrow Thieves" by Cherie Dimaline
Locals trapped there have resorted to hunting and eating pigeons in recent months, former residents in touch with those in the city told AFP.
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
Many residents have resorted to cooking garden weeds to survive, telling the BBC they are suffering extreme hunger and want to leave.
From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026
The filmmakers followed the heated battles as people in the divided community resorted to screaming and name-calling.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026
As with his mother, who wrote tall tales during his Northern Irish youth, Cohn resorted to literary imagination and exaggeration to bring the story to life.
From Salon ● Oct. 8, 2026
She finally resorted to pushing it open with her feet.
From "Storm Runners" by Roland Smith
Residents trapped there were suffering severe shortages of food, water and electricity, with many resorting to cooking garden weeds to survive.
From BBC ● Nov. 1, 2026
He describes the current situation as an "AI war", with candidates "resorting to AI to bolster their applications" while "employers are dealing with huge amounts of applications".
From BBC ● Oct. 22, 2026
With frequent power cuts transforming Havana into a ghost town, young Cubans are struggling to get their kicks, many resorting to games of dominoes with strangers to pass the time.
From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026
Paramount’s high-profile lobbying campaign reached a crescendo in late August after Paramount called out activist-actor Mark Ruffalo, accusing him of resorting to “antisemitic tropes” to argue against the merger.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 21, 2026
Here she is reaching up, without resorting to tiptoes, to put it on the top shelf.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
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