accustomed
Americanadjective
-
customary; usual; habitual.
in their accustomed manner.
- Synonyms:
- regular, normal, characteristic
- Antonyms:
- unusual
-
habituated; acclimated (usually followed byto ).
accustomed to staying up late; accustomed to the noise of the subway.
adjective
-
usual; customary
-
used or inured (to)
-
in the habit (of)
accustomed to walking after meals
Other Word Forms
- accustomedly adverb
- accustomedness noun
- half-accustomed adjective
- well-accustomed adjective
Etymology
Origin of accustomed
late Middle English word dating back to 1400–50; accustom, -ed 2
Explanation
If you're accustomed to something, you're used to it. Being accustomed has to do with habits and lifestyle. Anything you're accustomed to is a regular thing for you. A rich person is probably accustomed to fancy clothes, expensive food, and beautiful houses. A football player is accustomed to getting tackled and tackling other people. Office workers get accustomed to filling out forms and fixing the copy machine. We can also say an accustomed thing is a usual, customary thing. When you think of the word accustomed, think "nothing new here."
Vocabulary lists containing accustomed
The Watsons Go to Birmingham
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"The Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," Vocabulary from Act 1
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The Wishing Spell
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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.
In his Easter address, the pontiff said without mentioning any countries directly that people were growing accustomed to violence and indifferent to thousands of deaths.
From BBC • Apr. 13, 2026
Nazih Yahya, a septuagenarian resident with the wearied tone of someone long accustomed to conflict, expected the Israeli military to treat residents in non-Shiite villages differently from areas it counts as bastions of Hezbollah support.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 7, 2026
We have grown accustomed to short selling investment firms publishing detailed reports on companies they believe are fraudulent.
From Barron's • Apr. 7, 2026
"We are growing accustomed to violence, resigning ourselves to it, and becoming indifferent. Indifferent to the deaths of thousands of people," he told a crowd in St Peter's Square.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
The tidy basket, with the bit of work she left unfinished when the needle grew ‘so heavy’, was still on its accustomed shelf.
From "Little Women" by Louisa May Alcott
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.
