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Glite Dictionary
🙂 Familiar with ⏳ Did in the past
used to

used to

∞ 2.3
Comfortable with something because you do it often
  • idiom
  • /juːst tuː/
translation icon : acostumbrado
  • After living in the city for several years, she is now used to the noise and crowds.

My husband is used to having me away.

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Examples

Synonyms

accustomed to
vsused to
116 3.5

Familiar with something because you do it often

means being familiar through experience or habit rather than naming the object
wont to
vsused to
  • Archaic
8 9.3

Often does something because it is a habit

describes being familiar with something rather than regularly performing an action
accustomed
vsused to
5 3.4

Familiar with something because you do it often

focuses on a person becoming familiar because of experience or habit
inured
vsused to
  • Formal
3 8.2

You do not react strongly to something unpleasant because you are used to it

means familiar without implying increased toughness or reduced feeling
conditioned
vsused to
  • Specialized
4.3

Learned to react in a certain way through repeated experience or training

means familiar due to past experience, not specifically by training

Antonyms

unfamiliar
104 4.4

Not known or seen before

How Familiar

at ease
106 1.7
familiar
476 2.8
accustomed to
116 3.5
used to
∞ 2.3
unused to
3 4.2
unfamiliar
104 4.4

Surface Forms

used to positive

Morphology

used + to

There is a clear relation between 'used' (past/adj form of 'use' meaning accustomed) and the MWE meaning, but the grammaticalized pattern 'used to + (verb)' that expresses a past habitual state or being "accustomed" is not fully derivable from simply knowing the words 'use/used' and 'to'. Because the particle 'to' and the past-marked form combine into a conventionalized tense/aspect construction rather than a literal composition, a B1 learner may need prior exposure to reliably interpret it.

Etymology

The adjective used to comes from a simple image: something you have used so often it feels comfortable, like a shoe worn until it fits naturally. So, used to means 'accustomed' or 'familiar'.