habit
Syllables: ha·bit/ˈhæb.ɪt/
habit noun: an action performed on a regular basis. Also the form of growth or general appearance and structure of a plant or crystal.
Noun (1)
habit (countable and uncountable, plural habits)
- An action performed on a regular basis.
- It’s become a habit of mine to have a cup of coffee after dinner.
- I really need to get into the habit of writing down what I spend.
- An action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness.
- By force of habit, he dressed for work even though it was holiday.
- An addiction.
- kick the habit
- He has a 10-cigar habit.
Verb
habit (third-person singular simple present habits, present participle habiting, simple past and past participle habited)
- To clothe.
- Ritson, who was a native of the bishoprick of Durham, tells us that the fairies frequented many parts of it; that they were described as being of the smallest size, and uniformly habited in green.1850, Thomas Keightley, The Fairy Mythology, London: H.G. Bohn, page 309
- Here I began my shopping, was interviewed by dressmakers, and naturally had much to do to habit myself for civilized life again.1887, Harriet W. Daly, Digging, Squatting, and Pioneering Life in the Northern Territory of South Australia, page 132
- Synonyms:
- garb, habilitate
- To inhabit.
Noun (2)
habit (countable and uncountable, plural habits)
- A long piece of clothing worn by monks and nuns.
- It’s interesting how Catholic and Buddhist monks both wear habits.
- A piece of clothing worn for a specific activity; a uniform.
- The new riding habits of the team looked smashing!
- Sidesaddle riding habits were prestigious tailored sportswear appropriate for the equestrian pursuits of the truly wealthy.2015, Alison Matthews David, Fashion Victims: The Damages of Dress Past and Present, →ISBN, page 34
- Outward appearance; attire; dress.
- Noble and milde this Perſean ſeemes to be,
If outward habit Iudge the inward man.c. 1587–1588 (date written), [Christopher Marlowe], Tamburlaine the Great. […] The First Part […], 2nd edition, part 1, London: […] [R. Robinson for] Richard Iones, […], published 1592, →OCLC... - Costly thy habit as thy purse can buy.c. 1599–1602 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Hamlet, Prince of Denmarke”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac...
- Noble and milde this Perſean ſeemes to be,
Also used as
habit is also the form of growth or general appearance and structure of a plant or crystal.
habit meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
habit in Hindi
- an action done on a regular basis
- अभ्यास abhyās, आदत ādat
- action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness
- आदत ādat
habit in Tamil
- an action done on a regular basis
- பழக்கம் paḻakkam
- action performed repeatedly and automatically, usually without awareness
- பழக்கம் paḻakkam
- addiction
- அடிமை aṭimai, அடிமையாதல் aṭimaiyātal
- to clothe
- அணி aṇi
habit in Marathi
- an action done on a regular basis
- सवय savay
- addiction
- सवय savay
- the general appearance of a plant
- स्वरूप svarūp, रीती rītī
habit in Urdu
- an action done on a regular basis
- عادَت 'ādat
More languagesFewer languages
- habit in Bengali
- অভ্যাস obbhaś
- habit in Telugu
- అలవాటు alavāṭu
- habit in Malayalam
- ശീലം śīlaṁ, വഴക്കം vaḻakkaṁ
- habit in Punjabi
- ਆਦਤ ādat, ਆਦਤਾਂ ādatā̃
- habit in Gujarati
- ટેવ ṭev
- habit in Odia
- ଅଭ୍ୟାସ abhyāsa
- habit in Sanskrit
- अभ्यास abhyāsa
- habit in Assamese
- অভ্যাস obhyax
- habit in Nepali
- अभ्यास abhyās, बानी bānī
- habit in Pashto
- عادت 'ādat
- habit in Arabic
- عَادَة ʕāda
- habit in Malay
- tabiat, kebiasaan, adat
- habit in Indonesian
- kebiasaan, adat
- habit in Thai
- นิสัย ní-sǎi
- habit in Vietnamese
- thói quen, thói
- habit in Myanmar
- ဝသီ wa.si, အလေ့အကျင့် a.le.a.kyang.
Examples of habit in a sentence
- Another white boy band / They're happy on demand / Everything is planned / Until the singer gets a habit2000, “I'm With Stupid”, in WYSIWYG, performed by Chumbawamba:
- There are, among the statues, several of Venus, in different habits.1705, J[oseph] Addison, Remarks on Several Parts of Italy, &c. in the Years 1701, 1702, 1703, London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC:
- In the Cotswolds, though the towns are small and sweet and the inns snug, the general habit of the land is bleak and bare.1921, A. E. Coppard, “Dusky Ruth”, in Adam & Eve & Pinch Me:
Synonyms of habit
Forms of habit
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | habits |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | habits |
| present participle | habiting |
| past participle | habited |
| past | habited |
Origin of habit
From Middle English habit, from Latin habitus (“condition, bearing, state, appearance, dress, attire”), from habeō (“to have, hold, keep”). Distantly related to gift. Replaced Middle English abit, from Old French abit, itself from the same Latin source. Displaced native Old English þēaw, wuna, ġewuna, and sidu.
From Middle English habiten, from Old French habiter, from Latin habitāre (“to dwell, abide, keep”), frequentative of habeō (“to have, hold, keep”); see have.
Words formed from habit
- creature of habit
- crystal habit
- drop like a bad habit
- eating habit
- force of habit
- habit and repute
- habit cough
- habit-forming
- habit of body
- habit of mind
- habit of thought
- habit shirt
- kick the habit
- make a habit of
- mañana habit
- marriage by cohabitation with habit and repute
- marriage by habit and repute
- quit the oxygen habit
- riding habit
Phrases with habit
- habit coughs
- habit shirts
- forces of habit
- kicks the habit
- made a habit of
- kicked the habit
- makes a habit of
- kicking the habit
- making a habit of
- creatures of habit
- drops like a bad habit
- quits the oxygen habit
3 more phrasesFewer phrases
Words that rhyme with habit
Questions about habit
- What does habit mean?
- Habit means an action performed on a regular basis.
- What is habit in Hindi?
- Habit in Hindi is अभ्यास (abhyās), आदत (ādat). See Habit meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use habit in a sentence?
- Another white boy band / They're happy on demand / Everything is planned / Until the singer gets a habit
- What part of speech is habit?
- Habit can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce habit?
- Habit is pronounced /ˈhæb.ɪt/.
- What is the plural of habit?
- The plural of habit is habits.
Words near habit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: habit (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-habit.ogg.
Cite this entry: “habit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/habit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.