roommate
Americannoun
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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List 9
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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.
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
Prosecutors allege Robinson was in a romantic relationship with his transgender roommate.
From Barron's • Jul. 10, 2026
Lance Twiggs, the former roommate and romantic partner of Tyler Robinson, told investigators in a recorded interview that he spoke with Robinson in person the day after Kirk was fatally shot at Utah Valley University.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jul. 9, 2026
By 2019, Suozzi’s roommate, Moolenaar, was part of C Street in some fashion.
From Salon • May 29, 2026
Which was lucky, because the brutally skinny chicken carcass turned out to be her new roommate.
From "Bone Gap" by Laura Ruby
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.
