acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈa-klə-ˌmāt 

ə-ˈklī-mət, 

-ˌmāt 

acclimated; acclimating

transitive verb

: to adapt (someone) to a new temperature, altitude, climate, environment, or situation : acclimatize

They had to acclimate themselves to an urban lifestyle.

slowly becoming acclimated to a new environment

intransitive verb

: to adjust or adapt to a new temperature, climate, environment, or situation : to become acclimated : acclimatize

climbers gradually acclimating to the high altitude

Synonyms of acclimate

• adjust
• adapt
• tailor
• conform
• put

Examples of acclimate in a Sentence

I acclimated myself to the hot weather.

You might need to acclimate your plants to bright sunlight gradually.

We took a few days to get acclimated to our new teacher.

Recent Examples on the Web

That’s not a lot of time for the host of new players — namely forwards Brady Tkachuk, Garnett Hathaway and Lars Eller; defenseman Radko Gudas; and goaltenders Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid — to get acclimated to Maurice’s system. — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026

Some had health issues, and others had become acclimated to dangerous foods provided illegally by tourists. — Mark Price, Charlotte Observer, 15 Sep. 2026

But that deliberate pace allows the audience to steadily warm to the characters, especially the relationship between Eiichirō and Natsu, and acclimate to the sport as well. — Eric Vilas-Boas, Vulture, 11 Sep. 2026

The result made Shanahan’s decision to have his team spend a week in Melbourne to acclimate the correct one. — Los Angeles Times, 11 Sep. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French acclimater, from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + climat "climate" (going back to Old French) — more at climate

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for acclimate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate
• angulate

Kids Definition

acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈak-lə-ˌmāt  ə-ˈklī-mət 

-ˌmāt

acclimated; acclimating

: to adapt to a new climate, environment, or situation

acclimation

ˌak-lə-ˈmā-shən, 

ˌak-ˌlī-

noun

Medical Definition

acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈak-lə-ˌmāt; ə-ˈklī-mət  -ˌmāt 

acclimated; acclimating

: acclimatize