English Reference

Word

habitable

Phoneticshab·it·able

US/ˈhæbətəbəɫ/

UK/hˈæbɪtəbəl/

Definitions

01fit for living in

B2

adj. safe and comfortable enough for people to live in.

adj. suitable for human habitation; meeting the basic standards of safety, shelter, and comfort required for residence.

“After the repairs were finished, the old house was finally habitable again.”

“The inspector declared the building habitable only after the landlord addressed the structural issues and restored the heating system.”

Synonyms

livableoccupiable

Antonyms

02supporting life

B2 · Science

adj. having the right conditions for life to exist, especially on other planets.

adj. capable of supporting or giving rise to life; often used in an astronomical or ecological context.

“Scientists are searching for habitable planets that might have water and air.”

“Astrophysicists focus their search on the habitable zone, where temperatures allow liquid water to exist on a planet's surface.”

Technical

Synonyms

Antonyms

Real-World Examples

“Europa’s hidden ocean has made the icy moon one of the solar system’s most promising places to search for habitable conditions.”
ScienceDaily · 29 Jul 2026
“And “less habitable” was pretty much the case before about 540 million years ago, toward the end of what’s called the Ediacaran period.”
Ars Technica · 12 Aug 2026

Etymology

From Middle English abitable, habytable, from Middle French habitable, from Latin habitābilis (“habitable”), from habitō (“dwell, live”). By surface analysis, habit (“inhabit”) + able.

Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This entry

Level
B2 · Upper Intermediate
Frequency
Occasional
Updated

Scan code

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English Reference