habit

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

I

n. tendency (see habit); costume, uniform (see clothing).

II

Usual mode of action

Nouns

1. habit, habitude, wont, way; prescription, custom, use, usage; practice; matter of course, prevalence, observance; conventionalism, conventionality; mode, vogue (see fashion); conformity; rule, standing order, precedent, routine, lifestyle; rut, groove, beaten path; banality, familiarity; bad habit, addiction; quirk, trick (see unconformity); Procrustean bed; seasoning, hardening, inurement; second nature, acclimatization. Informal, same old same old, shtick. See regularity, generality, frequency, order, precedence.

2. habitué, addict, user, slave (to), frequenter, alcoholic, drunkard (see drinking). Informal, dope fiend; chocoholic. Slang, [hop]head, junkie, freak, mainliner, acidhead. See drugs.

Verbs

1. be wont, fall into a custom, conform to (see conformity); follow the beaten path; get used to, make a practice or habit of, get the feel of, take to, get the knack of, learn.

2. be habitual, prevail; come into use, take root; become second nature.

3. habituate, inure, harden, season, caseharden; accustom, familiarize; naturalize, acclimatize; keep one's hand in; train, educate, domesticate; grow on, cling to, adhere to; repeat (see repetition); enslave. Slang, hook.

Adjectives

1. habitual, customary; accustomed; of everyday occurrence; wonted, usual, general, ordinary, common, frequent, everyday; well-trodden, well-known; familiar, hackneyed, trite, commonplace, conventional, regular, set, stock, established, routine, stereotyped; prevailing, prevalent; current; fashionable (see fashion); deep-rooted, inveterate, chronic, besetting; ingrained.

2. wont; used to, given to, addicted to, habituated to; in the habit of; seasoned, imbued with; devoted to, wedded to.

Adverbs — habitually; always (see conformity); as usual, as is one's wont, as a rule, for the most part; all in a day's work; generally, of course, most often, frequently.

Phrases — old habits die hard; you can't teach an old dog new tricks; there is nothing new under the sun; better the devil you know than the devil you don't know.

Quotations — Habit is a great deadener (Samuel Beckett), The tradition of all the dead generations weighs like a nightmare on the brain of the living (Karl Marx), Custom reconciles us to everything (Burke), Familiarity breeds contempt — and children (Mark Twain), Customs represent the experiences of mankind (Henry Ward Beecher), I don't have any bad habits. They might be bad habits for other people, but they're all right for me (Eubie Blake).

Antonyms, see disuse, irregularity.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

1. [Tendency to repeated action]

Syn. disposition, way, fashion, manner, propensity, bent, turn, gravitation, proclivity, inclination, addiction, impulsion, predisposition, susceptibility, weakness, bias, proneness, fixed attitude, persuasion, second nature, penchant; see also attitude 2 , inclination 1 .

2. [A customary action]

Syn. custom, usage, wont, mode, practice, rule; see also custom 1 .

3. [An obsession]

Syn. addiction, fixation, hang-up*; see obsession .

4. [Dress]

Syn. vestments, costume, riding costume, habiliment; see clothes .

Syn.- habit refers to an act repeated so often by an individual that it has become automatic with him [ his habit of tugging at his ear in perplexity ] ; practice also implies the regular repetition of an act but does not suggest that it is automatic [ the practice of reading in bed ] ; custom applies to any act or procedure carried on by tradition and often enforced by social disapproval of any violation [ the custom of dressing for dinner ] ; usage refers to custom or practice that has become sanctioned through being long established [ the meanings of words are established by usage] ; wont is a literary or somewhat archaic equivalent for practice [ it was his wont to rise early ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

routine, custom, practice, tendency, convention, way, rut, pattern, mode, proclivity, manner, mannerism, inclination. ''A cable. We weave a thread of it everyday, and at last we cannot break it.''—Horace Mann.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) noun 1. A habitual way of behaving: consuetude, custom, habitude, manner, practice, praxis, usage, usance, use, way, wont. See USUAL. 2. The physical or constitutional characteristics of a person: build, constitution, habitus, physique. See BODY. 3. Clothing worn by members of a religious order: robe, vestment. See PUT ON.