Word.ws English Dictionary

living rent-free in someone's head

living rent-free in someone's head is the present participle and gerund of live rent-free in someone's head.

Meaning of live rent-free in someone's head

Verb

live rent-free in someone's head (third-person singular simple present lives rent-free in someone's head, present participle living rent-free in someone's head, simple past and past participle lived rent-free in someone's head)

  1. (US, idiomatic, informal) To be the perpetual focus of someone's thoughts, with that person having no control over this situation.
    • Gem of the Day: Hanging onto resentment is letting someone you despise live rent free in your head.1990 March 8, Ann Landers [Eppie Lederer], “Breast cancer is in her family”, in Daily American, volume 62, number 210, Somerset, Pa., page 12

Questions about living rent-free in someone's head

What is living rent-free in someone's head the present participle and gerund of?
Living rent-free in someone's head is the present participle and gerund of live rent-free in someone's head.

Words near living rent-free in someone's head in the dictionary

  1. living pictures
  2. living proof
  3. living quarters
  4. living rent free in someone's head
  5. living rent free in someone's mind
  6. living rent-free in someone's head
  7. living rent-free in someone's mind
  8. living rock
  9. living rocks
  10. living room
  11. living room group

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: living rent-free in someone's head (page history and authors); live rent-free in someone's head (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.

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