Meaning & use
feel at home
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Meanings
verbidiomfigurative
To be relaxed and comfortable in a place or situation, as though you belong there.
Grammar: Fixed expression with no object: she feels at home in the city; the verb feel changes form.
Patterns
- feel at home in somewhere
- feel at home with someone
After a week in the village, I began to feel at home.
She felt at home at once in the friendly office.
Do you feel at home with your new classmates?
verbidiomfigurative
To be confident and skilled in an activity because you know it well.
Grammar: Often followed by with or in and a skill or activity.
Patterns
- feel at home with something
- feel at home in something
He feels at home on the stage after years of acting.
I feel at home with spreadsheets, but not with presentations.
The chef felt at home in any kitchen, anywhere in the world.
Word forms
| third person singular | feels at home |
|---|---|
| past tense | felt at home |
| past participle | felt at home |
| -ing form | feeling at home |
Common combinations
- make someone feel at home
- Our hosts made us feel at home straight away.
- feel completely at home
- I felt completely at home in the new school.
- feel right at home
- She felt right at home among the artists.
- not feel at home
- He did not feel at home in the big city.
- feel at home with
- I feel at home with this software.
Synonyms and how they differ
- feel comfortable
- Feel comfortable is plainer and can describe a short moment, while feel at home implies belonging.
- fit in
- Fit in describes being accepted by a group, whereas feel at home describes your own feelings.
- be at ease
- Be at ease is more formal and stresses relaxation rather than belonging.
- settle in
- Settle in names the process of becoming adjusted, while feel at home names the result.
Opposites
Word family
Commonly confused: feel at home or feel home? feel at home or homesick?
feel at home vs feel home
Feel home is incorrect; the idiom needs at, as in feel at home.
feel at home vs homesick
Homesick means missing home, which is nearly the opposite of feeling at home somewhere new.
Practice
The family welcomed me so warmly that I quickly began to ___ in their house.
Choose one answer.
Feel at home is the fixed idiom for being comfortable. The other options miss the preposition or use the wrong one.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “feel at home”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.