Did you know?

Click any word in a definition or example to find the entry for that word

used to

 - definition
Close

What are red words?

90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent.

Close

Thesaurus

The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully integrated into the dictionary entries. Click on the T button in an entry to review the synonyms and related words for that meaning.

more
adjective [never before noun] British English pronunciation: used to /ˈjuːst tuː/

Related dictionary definitions

  1. familiar with something because you have often experienced it before, so it no longer seems difficult or strange
    be used to (doing) something:

    Deborah was used to working on difficult assignments.

    I’m tired – I’m not used to these late nights.

    It’s completely different from what people are used to.

    get used to (doing) something:

    I haven’t got used to the new system yet.

    It took weeks to get used to having someone else around.

vocal fry

a speech habit in which a speaker lowers their voice at the end of a sentence

BuzzWord Article

Word of the Day Word of the Day

dray

a type of cart pulled by a horse and used in the past for carrying barrels of beer

Open Dictionary

conflict mineral

a mineral which is mined in a place where there is armed conflict, and sold to help pay for weapons

add a word

Blog

A must for anyone with an interest in the changing face of language. The Macmillan Dictionary blog explores English as it is spoken around the world today.

global English and language change from our blog