habit
noun · verb
Simple meaning
An action performed on a regular basis.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
habuhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
ˈhæbət
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
An action performed on a regular basis.
An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.
A piece of clothing worn for a specific activity; a uniform.
A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.
An addiction.
verb
transitive
To clothe.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: An action performed on a regular basis.
Used this way, habit is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use habit
- “It was their habit to dine at 7 every evening.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
The native habitat or home of an animal or plant.
According to habit or custom.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
Causing or characterized by addiction.
Attire that is typically worn by a horseback rider (especially a woman's attire).
A long loose habit worn by monks in a monastery.
A long loose habit worn by nuns in a convent.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.