roommate
Americannoun
-
roommates
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of roommate
Explanation
Someone who shares a dorm room or an apartment with you is your roommate. Even if you live in a big house, the people who share it with you — and split the rent — are your roommates. If you live in a dormitory when you go to college, you'll probably have at least one roommate, and even after college it's common to share an apartment or house with roommates. You can call the campers in your cabin at summer camp roommates, though you could also call them cabin mates. The word roommate was a late eighteenth century American English invention.
Vocabulary lists containing roommate
List 1
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
List 9
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
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:
Aggrey recalled a time in 2015 when he wasn’t able to afford both the taxes on those options and rent, and his roommate fronted him $200.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
He has since found a roommate who helps pay a substantial portion of the mortgage.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
On the day of his “Transformers” audition, Cullen had mentioned to Larry, his roommate at the time, that he was on his way to try out to be the voice of “a hero truck.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 27, 2026
You make less than $60,000 per year, which is considered normal for your age range, but rent is still $1,415 even though you live with a roommate.
From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026
Ashish shrugged, like he couldn’t be bothered with such banalities as figuring out where Dimple’s roommate was.
From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon
They became roommates and teammates, debuting in the same year.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 25, 2026
Washington Post columnist Marc Thiessen reminisced about working two jobs, living with roommates and eating ramen after college.
From Salon ● Aug. 13, 2026
I had roommates, boyfriends, best friends and involved parents.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Lobga spent much of his last week with his niece, including driving her and his roommates on July 1 to upstate New York for a daylong hike and picnic.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
My roommates are cordial, but they're best friends from the same school, so they make it obvious they plan to spend this week together.
From "You Bring the Distant Near" by Mitali Perkins
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.
