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
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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:
Montana McGlynn, a former castmate and roommate, greets them at the door.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 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
Since then, that role has largely been filled by his roommate, who is also a close friend.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 6, 2026
Much of what was learned came from Robinson's former roommate and romantic partner, Lance Twiggs, through a video interview with a prosecutor, recorded in April.
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
I was starved for sleep by the time my first roommate arrived.
From "Educated" by Tara Westover
And though the accommodations changed throughout the years, they’d remain roommates through 2010, their debut season in the majors.
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
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
Employees of all ages attended meetings remotely while holding crying babies or with pajama-wearing roommates in the frame.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
As long as both snake and bunny never had to be roommates, I would’ve been cool with it.
From "They Both Die at the End" by Adam Silvera
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.
