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

Rams players, however, are arriving in Melbourne just one day before the game, while their opponents chartered a plane last week and have already been acclimating to the 17-hour time zone difference. — Jessica Golden, CNBC, 9 Sep. 2026

The lightweight pants are an easy way to acclimate to more polished fall styles without taking the plunge into heavy fabrics. — Kaitlin Clapinski, InStyle, 9 Sep. 2026

That gives Donald an extra 10 days to acclimate and prepare for his season. — Armando Salguero Outkick, FOXNews.com, 8 Sep. 2026

But the Nike veteran isn’t going to have a lot of time to get acclimated. — Evan Clark, Footwear News, 8 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