Library / English Dictionary |
HABITUAL
Pronunciation (US): | (GB): |
I. (adjective)
Sense 1
Meaning:
Commonly used or practiced; usual
Example:
with her wonted candor
Synonyms:
accustomed; customary; habitual; wonted
Classified under:
Similar:
usual (occurring or encountered or experienced or observed frequently or in accordance with regular practice or procedure)
Derivation:
habit ((psychology) an automatic pattern of behavior in reaction to a specific situation; may be inherited or acquired through frequent repetition)
Context examples:
It was not, however, so saturnine a pride! she laughed continually; her laugh was satirical, and so was the habitual expression of her arched and haughty lip.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
I noticed, I remember, as he paused, looking at me with his handsome head a little thrown back, and his glass raised in his hand, that, though the freshness of the sea-wind was on his face, and it was ruddy, there were traces in it, made since I last saw it, as if he had applied himself to some habitual strain of the fervent energy which, when roused, was so passionately roused within him.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
Poor, suffering woman! it was too late for her to make now the effort to change her habitual frame of mind: living, she had ever hated me—dying, she must hate me still.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
My habitual mood of humiliation, self-doubt, forlorn depression, fell damp on the embers of my decaying ire.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Your habitual expression in those days, Jane, was a thoughtful look; not despondent, for you were not sickly; but not buoyant, for you had little hope, and no actual pleasure.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Miss Gryce snored at last; she was a heavy Welshwoman, and till now her habitual nasal strains had never been regarded by me in any other light than as a nuisance; to-night I hailed the first deep notes with satisfaction; I was debarrassed of interruption; my half-effaced thought instantly revived.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
Some of them threw themselves in half-reclining positions on the sofas and ottomans: some bent over the tables and examined the flowers and books: the rest gathered in a group round the fire: all talked in a low but clear tone which seemed habitual to them.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)