Basic Details
Word: Accustomed
Part of Speech: Adjective
Meaning: Used to something because you have done it or met it many times.
Synonyms: used, familiar, habituated
Antonyms: unaccustomed, unused
How to Spell Accustomed
Syllables: ac - cus - tomed
Tricky part: Like accept, it starts with a double c, but here both c's say k. The middle is custom, so it is cus-tom, not cos-tum.
Watch out for: acustomed, accostumed, accustommed
Memory tip: You become accustomed to a custom. Write ac, then the whole word custom, then ed: ac + custom + ed.
Usage Examples
Example 1: After two winters in Shimla, Rohan was accustomed to the cold mornings.
Example 2: Our dog is accustomed to a walk at six, and he barks if we are late.
Example 3: It took me a week to get accustomed to the new school timings.
Fun Fact
Custom, the root of accustomed, also gives customer. In the 1400s a customer came to mean a regular buyer, someone who went back to the same shop by custom.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Connection
Choose the synonym of the word accustomed as used in the sentence:
Living near the airport, the family was accustomed to the roar of planes at night.
a) used
b) opposed
c) unfamiliar
d) strange
Show answer
a) used. To be accustomed to a noise is to be used to it; strange and unfamiliar mean the reverse.
Word Cookie
Find the misspelt word in the sentence:
The new students were not yet acustomed to the long morning assembly, the heavy school bags and the strict timetable.
a) acustomed
b) timetable
c) assembly
d) students
Show answer
a) acustomed. Accustomed takes ac in front of custom, which gives two c's.
Spell-o-Spell
Only one of these words is spelt correctly. Choose its meaning:
1. tradision 2. festivel 3. ocasion 4. accustomed
a) used to something because it often happens
b) a day or period of celebration
c) a custom passed down from one generation to the next
d) a particular time when something happens
Show answer
a) used to something because it often happens. Occasion has two c's, tradition ends in -tion and festival ends in -al; accustomed is the one spelt right.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
My grandmother is mcuedocsta to waking up before sunrise.
a) customised
b) costumed
c) accustomed
d) accosted
Show answer
c) accustomed. There are two c's, a u and an a, and only accustomed uses all ten letters.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Someone who is accustomed to hard work ____.
a) has never done any
b) does not find it unusual
c) is afraid of it
d) gets paid twice for it
Show answer
b) does not find it unusual
2. Which preposition usually follows accustomed?
a) to
b) of
c) at
d) on
Show answer
a) to
