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Meaning & use

tenant

noun, verb·Everyday

Last updated

UK/ˈtenənt/
US/ˈtenənt/

Meanings

  1. nouncountable

    Someone who pays rent to live in a home or use a building or land that belongs to another person.

    Grammar: Countable: a tenant, two tenants; often followed by of a place: the tenants of the building.

    Patterns

    • a tenant of something
    • a tenant in something
    • tenant of a landlord

    The tenant upstairs complained about the broken heater.

    Each tenant pays the rent on the first day of the month.

    The landlord asked the tenants to leave the hallway clear.

  2. nouncountablebusiness

    A business, shop or organization that rents space in a commercial building.

    Grammar: Used in business contexts: an anchor tenant is a major store that draws visitors.

    Patterns

    • tenant of a building
    • anchor tenant

    The mall's biggest tenant is a department store.

    A law firm became the new tenant on the fourth floor.

  3. verbtransitiveformalrare

    To live in or use a property as a renter.

    Grammar: Rare and mostly in formal or legal writing; usually passive: the house is tenanted by a family.

    Patterns

    • tenant something
    • be tenanted by someone

    The farmhouse is tenanted by a young couple.

    The building was tenanted for decades by a small printing firm.

Word forms

pluraltenants

Common combinations

prospective tenant
The agent showed the flat to a prospective tenant.
evict a tenant
The landlord cannot evict a tenant without notice.
sitting tenant
The buyer inherited a sitting tenant who refused to move.
tenant's rights
A local group advises people on tenant's rights.
long-term tenant
She has been a long-term tenant in the same building.

Synonyms and how they differ

renter
Renter is the most common everyday word in American English, while tenant is slightly more formal and legal.
lodger
A lodger rents a room in the owner's own home, whereas a tenant usually rents a separate unit.
occupant
An occupant is anyone who lives somewhere, whether or not they pay rent.
leaseholder
A leaseholder holds a formal lease, often for a long period, so the term is narrower than tenant.

Opposites

landlord

Word family

tenancy noun
The period or right of occupying rented property.
tenanted adjective
Occupied by a tenant.
subtenant noun
A person who rents from a tenant instead of the owner.
co-tenant noun
One of two or more people who rent the same property.

Commonly confused: tenant or tenet?

tenant vs tenet

A tenet is a belief or principle held by a group; a tenant is someone who rents a home. They sound the same.

Practice

Which word completes the sentence correctly? The landlord raised the rent, so the ______ decided to move out.

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