habituated 1 of 2

as in accustomed
being in the habit or custom not only did the early-morning anchorman become habituated to getting up early, he found he actually liked it

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

habituated

2 of 2

verb

past tense of habituate

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of habituated
Adjective
The habituated behaviors and dimensions that determine how the other two layers are actually lived out. Mary Crossan, Forbes.com, 31 July 2026 Wild animals that learn to associate humans with food become habituated, losing their natural wariness. Emily Hayes, Martha Stewart, 7 June 2026 This orangutan is well habituated and sometimes come to a nearby feeding station for food. New Atlas, 29 Mar. 2026 As the residential community around Lake Tahoe has grown, bears have been pushed further uphill and become habituated to human food. Madison Chapman, Outside, 25 Mar. 2026 Over the years, individual dingoes deemed too habituated to humans have been euthanized, in consultation with the Butchulla people. Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 24 Jan. 2026 In October, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, with help from federal conservation officials, killed four wolves from the Beyem Seyo pack, which had become unusually habituated to preying on cattle from ranches in Sierra Valley. Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 6 Jan. 2026 But the study authors claim that the process begins much earlier, when animals become habituated to human environments. Marina Wang, Scientific American, 14 Nov. 2025 Using long-term dietary data of habituated chimpanzees from each of the two field sites, the researchers found that chimpanzees consume about 14 grams of pure ethanol per day of foraging, Dudley said. Soo Kim, MSNBC Newsweek, 18 Sep. 2025
Verb
First, we’ve been habituated to bite-sized texts like, well… texts, Reddit, email and Instagram captions. John Warner, Chicago Tribune, 25 July 2026 In some cases, DEEP said loud noises are not effective at scaring away bears, especially ones that have already been habituated. Stephen Underwood, Hartford Courant, 11 Mar. 2026 With active conflicts in many parts of the world such as Russia-Ukraine, Pakistan-Afghanistan, and in the Middle East, or humanitarian disaster as in Somalia, the people and states in the world are becoming increasingly war-habituated. Debidatta A. Mahapatra, The Orlando Sentinel, 7 Mar. 2026 The process of learning to suppress a response to the rewarding stimulus happens at the level of the reward system—there is a decrease in the size of the dopamine release caused by a particular reward cue once the circuit has become habituated. Literary Hub, 13 Feb. 2026 But last year, one of the state’s 10 resurgent wolf packs became unusually habituated to hunting and eating livestock instead of wild prey. Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 6 Feb. 2026 Even Americans who have grown habituated to Trump’s excesses have been shaken by these killings and the reflexively cruel and dishonest response from the administration. Hillary Rodham Clinton, The Atlantic, 29 Jan. 2026 In fact, they’d merely been habituated, the way a bird learns to ignore a rhino. AFAR Media, 30 Oct. 2025 These sediments, the researchers observed, had low bacterial diversity compared to other surrounding sediments, and the bacteria came from families habituated to alkaline environments, such as deep-sea hydrothermal vents or alkaline hot springs. Sharon Udasin, The Hill, 9 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for habituated
Adjective
  • Her elder brother, by now accustomed to this playact, held out a rough hand with stubby fingers.
    Cynthia Zarin, Harpers Magazine, 4 Aug. 2026
  • That exchange highlights one of local and state health officials’ biggest concerns — that people who’ve grown accustomed to automatic renewals aren’t aware of the reenrollment requirements.
    Mark Kreidler, Miami Herald, 4 Aug. 2026
Verb
  • Since the start of last offseason, the Atlanta Braves have been haunted by their inability to land a high-quality starting pitcher.
    Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Wade Barrett called Rollins the historical ghost who has haunted Roman Reigns for years.
    Alfred Konuwa, Forbes.com, 3 Aug. 2026
Adjective
  • Lululemon will give you a gift card, up to $25, in exchange for gently used women's and men's clothing.
    Kristine Lazar, CBS News, 31 July 2026
  • Maresca’s football, fundamentally, is based on finding the free man and creating numerical superiorities in different areas of the pitch, and the City players are well used to that after their time with Guardiola.
    Sam Lee, New York Times, 30 July 2026
Verb
  • Several squirrels have frequented the ballpark during Tigers games over the years.
    Chuck Schilken, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2026
  • Cook, an operational savant, hasn’t frequented the design studio as often as Jobs did.
    Sebastian Herrera, Fortune, 25 July 2026
Verb
  • The Athletic visited The Cardinal last week, and the build-out for the event — including grandstands and other infrastructure — had not yet begun, which would be highly unusual for a golf tournament less than a month out.
    Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Decades after artists like Pablo Picasso and Jean Cocteau visited the town, in 1953, John Steinbeck wrote an ode to Positano for an 1953 issue of Harper’s Bazaar.
    Elise Taylor, Vanity Fair, 4 Aug. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Habituated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/habituated. Accessed 6 Aug. 2026.

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