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Glite Dictionary
🔑 To be owned 🤝 To feel accepted 🏛️ To be in place
to belong

to belong

671 1.8
To feel accepted as part of a group
  • verb
  • /bɪˈlɔŋ/
translation icon : pertenecer a
  • After years of searching for the right community, she finally felt that she belonged among her new friends.
  • belong to a group
  • want to belong
  • need to belong

But that doesn't mean you belong here now.

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Examples

  • And a world where people feel like they belong, where they have each other's backs.

    Rich Roll

  • Right now I'm just trying to figure out where I belong in human society.

  • So you said when you feel like you belong, you have the state of flow.

  • If there is a here, I belong here.

    Theater Camp (2023)

  • Back to my life at the shop where I belong.

    Elemental (2023)

  • We just have to get you back up where you belong.

    Of Things Past (2023)

  • You have to believe that you belong in that marketplace.

    Tom Ferry

  • I don't even belong in this world.

  • Don't you forget where you belong.

    Deadfall (2012)

  • I belong to you.

    Spartacus (1960)

Synonyms

to belong to
vsto belong
∞ 1.0

To be part of a group or be owned by someone

focuses on feeling accepted rather than mere factual membership
to fit in
vsto belong
172 3.0

Be part of a group and feel accepted by others

focuses on the inner feeling of acceptance and being a member

Antonyms

to exclude
338 3.0

To keep someone or something out so they are not part of something

to alienate
123 6.7

To make someone feel alone and lose support from others

Idioms

all your base are belong to us
  • Slang
9.9

A funny phrase people use online to say they have won

Phrasal Verbs

to belong to
∞ 1.0

To be part of a group or be owned by someone

How Accepted

embrace
20 3.4
to belong
671 1.8
accepting
3.6
to tolerate
56 3.2
exclusion
64 4.2

Surface Forms

belong infinitive
belonged past
belonged past participle
belonging present participle
belongs third person singular

Morphology

belong = long (opaque) = be + long

The emotional/relational sense 'to feel accepted' is not transparently predicted by 'long' plus 'be-' for average learners.

Etymology

Belong can mean 'to be part of a group' or 'to feel accepted' and comes from the simple idea of 'being with' others, so if you belong somewhere you are a member there and feel at home.