housebound

H4O1U1S1E1B3O1U1N1D2

adjective

Restricted to one's home, as by physical infirmity.

Similar
homeboundshut-inconfined
OriginEnglish bound ← Middle English bownde ← Old Norse búinn →
UncommonScrabble 16
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Meanings

adjectivehousebound (not comparable)
  1. not comparableRestricted to one's home, as by physical infirmity.

    Returning to the sculptor described earlier, we know why that young woman suffered. She was housebound and bedbound, her face was changed by steroids, she was masculinized by her treatment, one breast was scarred, and she had almost no hair.

    1982 March 18, Eric J. Cassel[l], “The Nature of Suffering and the Goals of Medicine”, in The New England Journal of Medicine, volume 306, number 11, →DOI, page 642

    Synonyms: homebound

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectiveRestricted to one's home, as by physical infirmity.

Similar
homebound

More synonyms by meaning

adjectiveconfined usually by illness

Similar
homeboundshut-inconfined
Also see
confinedhomeboundshut-in

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*(s)kewH-der.?
  2. Proto-Germanic*hūsą
  3. Proto-West Germanic*hūs
  4. Old Englishhūs
  5. Middle Englishhous
  6. Englishhouse
  7. Proto-Indo-European*bʰuH-
  8. Proto-Germanic*būaną
  9. Old Norsebúinn
  10. Middle Englishbownde
  11. Englishbound
  12. Englishhousebound

From house + -bound.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

housebound. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housebound

MLA

“housebound.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housebound. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “housebound,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/housebound.

Source: housebound on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.