roommate
Americannoun
noun
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.
There is no one to split housing costs with unless we are comfortable with a roommate.
From MarketWatch • Apr. 29, 2026
While walking through a press box at a game, he bumped into his brother’s old college roommate, T.J.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 24, 2026
In the lounge, where Pike and his roommate host dinner parties, icicle lights hang from the ceiling and cases of Coca-Cola are stored in a corner.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 9, 2026
The police acted on a suspect description given to police in 2010 by the roommate of one victim, Amber Costello, after she had a run-in with a client.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
He rarely spoke to his roommate, a lean, cheerful boy with sandy hair and an endless parade of girlfriends.
From "Out of Darkness" by Ashley Hope Pérez
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.
