What does “dwell” mean?
- 1
verbto keep thinking or talking about something, especially something unpleasant, used with “on”
Try not to dwell on your mistakes.
- 2
verbto live in a place, in literary or old-fashioned language
Many creatures dwell in the deep ocean.
Dwell at a glance
- Part of speech
- verb
- CEFR level
- C1 (advanced)
- Pronunciation
- /dwɛl/ · DWEL
- Forms
- dwelt, dwelled
How to use “dwell” correctly
In modern English the “live” meaning sounds literary, but “dwell on” and “city dwellers” are common everyday uses.
Common phrases with “dwell”
- dwell on the past
- dwell on a problem
- city dwellers
Synonyms, opposites and related words
Synonyms (similar meaning)
- brood
- reside
- live
Word family
- dweller
- dwelling
“dwell” is on these word lists
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