wonted

W4O1N1T1E1D2
UK/ˈwəʊntɪd/US/ˈwɔntɪd/US/ˈwɑntɪd/US/ˈwoʊntɪd/

adjective

Usual, customary, habitual, or accustomed.

UncommonScrabble 10

Meanings

adjectivewonted (comparative more wonted, superlative most wonted)

comparative more wonted · superlative most wonted

  1. Usual, customary, habitual, or accustomed.

    2008 (tr.?), Lodovico Ariosto, Orlando Furioso But not with wonted welcome;—inly moved …

    5 more examples

    They were faire Ladies, till they fondly ſtriu’d / With th’Heliconian maides for mayſtery; / Of whom they ouer-comen, were depriu’d / Of their proud beautie, and th’one moyity / Transform’d to fiſh, for their bold ſurquedry, / But th’vpper halfe their hew retayned ſtill, / And their ſweet skill in wonted melody; / Which euer after they abuſd to ill, / T’allure weake traueillers, whom gotten they did kill.

    1590, Edmund Spenser, “Book II, Canto XII”, in The Faerie Queene. […], London: […] [John Wolfe] for William Ponsonbie, →OCLC, stanza 31, pages 370–371

    Rose Villa has once again resumed its wonted appearance; the dining-room furniture has been replaced; the tables are as nicely polished as formerly; the horsehair chairs are ranged against the wall, as regularly as ever [...]

    1836, “Boz” [pseudonym; Charles Dickens], Sketches by “Boz,” Illustrative of Every-day Life, and Every-day People. […], volume (please specify |volume=I or II), London: John Macrone, […], →OCLC

    But the oath is alterable; and in the wonted fluctuations of parties not improbably it will undergo alteration, assuming such a form, perhaps, as not to bar the admission into the National Legislature of men who represent the populations lately in revolt.

    1866, Herman Melville, Battle-Pieces and Aspects of the War, Supplement

    I had occasion […] to make a somewhat long business trip to Chicago, and on my return […] I found Farrar awaiting me in the railway station. He smiled his wonted fraction by way of greeting, […], and finally leading me to his buggy, turned and drove out of town.

    1897 December (indicated as 1898), Winston Churchill, chapter II, in The Celebrity: An Episode, New York, N.Y.: The Macmillan Company; London: Macmillan & Co., Ltd., →OCLC

    Superficially, the affairs of 'Every Other Week' settled into their wonted form again, and for Fulkerson they seemed thoroughly reinstated.

    1889, William Dean Howells, A Hazard of New Fortunes

Synonyms & antonyms

adjectivecommonly used or practiced; usual

Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.

Origin

  1. Proto-Indo-European*wenh₁-“to wish, love”
  2. Proto-Germanic*wunô“custom, practice”
  3. Old Englishwuna“custom, habit, practice; usual, wonted”
  4. Middle Englishwoonted“usual, customary”
  5. Englishwonted

From Middle English woonted (“usual, customary”), from wont (“custom, habit, practice”), alteration of wone (“custom, habit, practice”), from Old English wuna (“custom, habit, practice; usual, wonted”), from Proto-Germanic *wunô (“custom, practice”), from Proto-Indo-European *wenh₁- (“to wish, love”). Cognate with Old Frisian wona, wuna (“custom”), Old High German giwona (“custom”). More at wont, wone.

Full word history & related roots →

Translations

Bulgarian привичен, обичаен
  • привичен (privičen)usual, customary
  • обичаен (običaen)usual, customary
French habitué
  • habituéusual, customary
Hungarian szokott, megszokott
  • szokottusual, customary
  • megszokottusual, customary
Latin suētus
  • suētususual, customary
Romanian obișnuit
  • obișnuitusual, customary
Russian привы́чный
  • привы́чный (privýčnyj)usual, customary

Rhymes & wordplay

Anagrams

Cite this entry
APA

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

MLA

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

Chicago

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

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