household

household — adjective

1. relating to the everyday life, work, and activities that take place in a home wh

1.adjectiveB1
Definition

relating to the everyday life, work, and activities that take place in a home where a family or group of people live together.

Example

Jin spent the morning doing household chores like washing dishes and sweeping the floor.

household chores (daily tasks at home)

The shop sells a wide range of household appliances, such as fridges and washing machines.

household appliances (machines for home use)

Common collocations
  • household chores
  • household goods
  • household appliances
  • household bills
  • household expenses
  • household income
  • household tasks
  • household waste
  • household budget
Synonyms
  • domestic

    more formal and broader in scope; 'domestic' can also refer to a country's internal affairs, while 'household' stays focused on the home

  • home

    used conversationally and often interchangeable ('home cooking' vs. 'household expenses'), but 'home' is less precise for official or economic contexts

  • family

    focuses on the people rather than the place or the work done; 'family car' vs. 'household budget'

Grammar Patterns

household + noun

Usage Note

Always placed before a noun; you cannot say 'This task is household.' The noun it modifies tells what aspect of home life is meant — chores, goods, income, etc.

2. so widely known among the general public that almost everyone has heard of the p

2.adjectiveB2
Definition

so widely known among the general public that almost everyone has heard of the person, product, or thing mentioned.

Example

After winning the gold medal, the young swimmer became a household name overnight.

become a household name (achieve widespread fame)

Ishaan's brand of coffee is a household name in most Asian countries.

Common collocations
  • household name
  • household word
  • household brand
Synonyms
  • famous

    broader in usage; a person can be famous in a specific field without being a household name to the general public

  • ubiquitous

    more formal and suggests being seen everywhere rather than merely known by name

  • well-known

    less emphatic; 'well-known' does not carry the implication of near-universal recognition

Antonyms
  • unknown

    nobody has heard of the person or thing

  • obscure

    known only by a small, specialised group

Grammar Patterns

household + name / word / brand

Usage Note

Almost always used in the fixed phrase 'household name.' Less common variants include 'household word' (chiefly American) and 'household brand.' It is very rarely used with other nouns — 'household face,' for instance, is non-standard.

household — noun

Word family

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

'Household,' 'family,' 'home,' and 'dwelling' all relate to where people live, but they highlight different aspects. 'Household' is the people who share a living space — it includes everyone under one roof, whether related or not (e.g., flatmates). 'Family' is narrower: it implies blood, marriage, or adoption ties. Two flatmates sharing an apartment form a household but not a family. 'Home' shifts the focus to the place itself, with emotional warmth: 'a home of four people' is less natural than 'a household of four.' 'Dwelling' is purely physical and legal — it refers to the building or shelter with no reference to the people inside. In official contexts (census, economics), 'household' is the standard term because it captures both related and unrelated co-residents as a single spending or living unit. For everyday conversation about relatives, 'family' is more natural: 'My family has dinner together every night' uses 'family,' not 'household.'

household ↗family ↗home ↗dwelling ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

  • household size
  • household type
  • household survey
  • household sector

Phrases

  • head of the household
  • total number of households

Prepositions

  • in a household
  • within a household
  • per household

Etymology

Old EnglishMiddle EnglishModern English

'Household' comes from the Old English words 'hūs' (house, a building for shelter) and 'heald' (holding, keeping, or possession). In the Middle Ages, a 'houshold' meant the people living under one roof — including the family and their servants — and everything needed to run that home. Over time, the noun kept its meaning of the group of people, while the adjective developed from the idea of 'belonging to that group' into two branches: one about home life (household chores) and one about being so familiar that everyone in the house — and eventually everyone in the country — knows it (household name).