acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈa-klə-ˌmāt 

ə-ˈklī-mət, 

-ˌmāt 

acclimated; acclimating

transitive verb

: to adapt (someone) to a new temperature, altitude, climate, environment, or situation

They had to acclimate themselves to an urban lifestyle.

slowly becoming acclimated to a new environment

intransitive verb

: to adjust or adapt to a new temperature, climate, environment, or situation : to become acclimated

climbers gradually acclimating to the high altitude

Synonyms of acclimate

• adjust
• adapt
• tailor
• conform
• put

Examples of acclimate in a Sentence

I acclimated myself to the hot weather.

You might need to acclimate your plants to bright sunlight gradually.

We took a few days to get acclimated to our new teacher.

Recent Examples on the Web

Full sun may be too strong for seedlings that have been acclimating with grow lights or through sunny windows so introduce direct light incrementally. —Heather Zidack, Hartford Courant, 26 Apr. 2026

The pigeons spend months becoming acclimated. —Sharyn Alfonsi, CBS News, 26 Apr. 2026

Despite some rough showings in a few scrimmages, Craig performed well overall as he gets acclimated to a new team, scheme and a much tougher level of college football. —Steven Johnson, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Apr. 2026

Starting retinoids in your 40s gives your skin time to acclimate before the deeper structural changes of your 50s. —Lauren Jarvis-Gibson, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2026

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French acclimater, from a-, prefix forming transitive verbs (going back to Latin ad- ad-) + climat "climate" (going back to Old French) — more at climate

First Known Use

1792, in the meaning defined at transitive sense

Rhymes for acclimate

• abdicate
• abrogate
• acetate
• activate
• actuate
• adsorbate
• aggravate
• agitate
• alginate
• alienate
• allocate
• amputate

Kids Definition

acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈak-lə-ˌmāt  ə-ˈklī-mət 

-ˌmāt

acclimated; acclimating

: to adapt to a new climate, environment, or situation

acclimation

ˌak-lə-ˈmā-shən, 

ˌak-ˌlī-

noun

Medical Definition

acclimate

verb

ac·​cli·​mate ˈak-lə-ˌmāt; ə-ˈklī-mət  -ˌmāt 

acclimated; acclimating

: acclimatize