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habituate.

Verb
Formal
MEANING

To become, or make someone, less responsive to a repeatedly encountered stimulus.

Use it for

Words that belong together

  • habituate to noise
  • habituate an animal

On the page

The residents habituated to the intermittent alarm.
Repeated exposure habituated the animal to the harmless sound.

Nearby words

Related words

Word forms
Base
habituate
Past tense
habituated
Past participle
habituated
Present participle
habituating
Full tense & aspect guide
Present
habituate
Present continuous
am/is/are habituating
Present perfect
have/has habituated
Present perfect continuous
have/has been habituating
Past
habituated
Past continuous
was/were habituating
Past perfect
had habituated
Past perfect continuous
had been habituating
Future
will habituate
Future continuous
will be habituating
Future perfect
will have habituated
Future perfect continuous
will have been habituating

Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.

Usage notes

Primary category: literary. Forms: habituate; habituates; habituated; habituated; habituating Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Third-person singular: habituates.

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