What does "roommate" mean?

A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment.

What is a synonym for "roommate"?

Common synonyms include: roomie, ace, amigo, associate, bedfellow, bedmate.

Pronounced //ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt//.

//ˈɹu(m)ˌmeɪt// noun

noun ·Moderate ·College level

Noun

1
A person with whom one shares a room, as in a dormitory, barracks, rooming house, or apartment.
2
an associate who shares a room with you wordnet
3
A person sharing the same home albeit not the same room (but generally not a family member or spouse). Australia, Canada, New-Zealand, Philippines, US
"I live with Marsha. We’re roommates."
4
A same-sex significant other with whom one lives; a coinhabitant in a non-heterosexual relationship. humorous, ironic

"My roommate is prodigal when it comes to spending money on movies; he buys them the day they're released, regardless of price."

From room + -mate.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.