What does "accommodate" mean?
To render fit, suitable, or correspondent; to adapt.
Accommodate
/əˈkɒməˌdeɪt/ adj, verb
adj, verb ·Very common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: To render fit, suitable, or correspondent; to adapt.
- Grammar: accommodate is listed as adj, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: adapt, hold, acclimate, acclimatize.
- Useful contrasts: challenging, conflicted, disobliging.
- Usage evidence: We can accommodate him for the night.
How to use "accommodate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "accommodate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "accommodate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "accommodate" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "accommodate" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "accommodate" is acting as adj, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "adapt" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "accommodate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Verb
- 1 To render fit, suitable, or correspondent; to adapt. often, reflexive, transitive
"to accommodate ourselves to circumstances"
- 2 make fit for, or change to suit a new purpose wordnet
- 3 To cause to come to agreement; to bring about harmony; to reconcile. transitive
"to accommodate differences"
- 4 make (one thing) compatible with (another) wordnet
- 5 To provide housing for. transitive
"to accommodate an old friend for a week"
Show 13 more definitions
- 6 provide a service or favor for someone wordnet
- 7 To provide sufficient space for. transitive
"My next stop is Oxford, which has also grown with the addition of new platforms to accommodate the Chiltern Railways service to London via Bicester - although, short sightedly, the planned electrification from Paddington was canned."
- 8 provide with something desired or needed wordnet
- 9 To contain comfortably; to have space for. transitive
"This venue accommodates three hundred people."
- 10 provide housing for wordnet
- 11 To provide with something desired, needed, or convenient. transitive
"to accommodate a friend with a loan"
- 12 be agreeable or acceptable to wordnet
- 13 To do a favor or service for; to oblige. transitive
- 14 have room for; hold without crowding wordnet
- 15 To show the correspondence of; to apply or make suit by analogy; to adapt or fit, as teachings to accidental circumstances, statements to facts, etc. transitive
"to accommodate prophecy to events"
- 16 To give consideration to; to allow for. transitive
- 17 To adapt oneself; to be conformable or adapted; become adjusted. intransitive, rare
- 18 To change focal length in order to focus at a different distance. intransitive
Adjective
- 1 Suitable; fit; adapted; as, means accommodate to end. obsolete
"God did not primarily intend to appoint this way of Worſhip, and to impoſe it upon them as that which was moſt proper and agreeable to him ; but that he condeſcended to it, as moſt accommodate to their preſent ſtate and inclination."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
"We can accommodate him for the night."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "accommodate"?
Common synonyms include: adapt, hold, acclimate, acclimatize, accommodate with, accommodates.
How do you use "accommodate" in a sentence?
We can accommodate him for the night.
How do you pronounce "accommodate"?
Pronounced /əˈkɒməˌdeɪt/.
Etymology
1530s, borrowed from Latin accommodātus, perfect passive participle of accommodō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from ad- (“to, towards, at”) + commodō (“to provide, lend; to make fit, accommodate”), from con- + modus (“measure, proportion, limit”) + -ō (verb-forming suffix) (see English mode).