convenient
Americanadjective
-
suitable or agreeable to the needs or purpose; well-suited with respect to facility or ease in use; favorable, easy, or comfortable for use.
- Synonyms:
- advantageous, helpful, useful, serviceable
-
at hand; easily accessible.
Their house is convenient to all transportation.
- Synonyms:
- handy
-
Obsolete. fitting; suitable.
adjective
-
suitable for one's purpose or needs; opportune
-
easy to use
-
close by or easily accessible; handy
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of convenient
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from from Latin convenient- (stem of conveniēns ), present participle of convenīre “to be suitable, come together”; see convene, -ent
Explanation
If something is convenient, it adds to your comfort, causes little trouble, or is easy to use, do, or reach. If you live close to your job, that's convenient––it's very easy to get there and get home. This adjective descends from Middle English, from Latin conveniēns, from convenīre "to be suitable, fit." The basic meaning of Latin convenīre is "to agree, meet, come together," and this is the source of English convene. The opposite of convenient is inconvenient, meaning making trouble or annoyance for you. The corresponding nouns are convenience and inconvenience.
Vocabulary lists containing convenient
The Articles of Confederation (1777)
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Messenger
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Game Changer
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"It's convenient because the motorway covers the back half of the garden so I've a dry area and it acts as my sunshade, which has been handy in recent weeks."
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Even so, physicists have continued to debate whether complex numbers are truly a fundamental part of nature or simply a convenient mathematical tool.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 13, 2026
Searching popular keywords like "citywalk" on the app brought up itineraries for the day, including where to eat and convenient routes from one attraction to another.
From Barron's ● Jul. 13, 2026
But becoming a millionaire overnight offers a convenient retirement plan for many of America’s aging farmers, especially in a tough farm economy, Nelson of the Illinois Farm Bureau said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 11, 2026
And I thought how convenient it would be now I didn't have to announce to everybody at college I had broken off with Buddy and start the boring business of blind dates all over again.
From "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.