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old habits
/oʊld ˈhæbɪts/
behaviors that are hard to change
Even after years of trying to quit, his old habits of smoking kept coming back.
He struggled to break his long-standing smoking habit.
informal
Behaviors or patterns of action that have become ingrained over time and are difficult to change.
She tried to adopt a healthier lifestyle, but her old habits of eating junk food were hard to break.
She found it challenging to replace her long-standing unhealthy eating habits.
Old habits die hard, so it took him months to stop procrastinating.
He struggled to change his long-standing habit of delaying tasks.
This phrase emphasizes the persistence of ingrained behaviors and the difficulty of changing them.
Collocations
break old habitsto stop doing something you've done for a long timedie hardto persist despite efforts to change
Related Phrases
Pro Tip
Understanding the Context
This phrase is often used when discussing personal development, addiction recovery, or behavioral psychology.
Gold Rule
Literal vs. Figurative
While 'old habits' can refer to literal routines, it is often used figuratively to describe deeply ingrained behaviors.
Word Origin
The phrase combines 'old' (long-established) and 'habits' (repeated behaviors), reflecting the idea that behaviors formed over time are resistant to change.
Usage Notes
This phrase is often used to explain why people struggle to adopt new behaviors or break bad habits. It can be used in both positive and negative contexts.
Word Breakdown
old
long-established
adjectivehabits
repeated behaviors
nounEnglish Dictionary