disinclination
Americannoun
Etymology
Origin of disinclination
First recorded in 1640–50; dis- 1 + inclination
Explanation
If anyone has ever told you to do something you didn’t want to do, you’ve felt a disinclination, a doubt about participating. Having a disinclination means you’re just not into it, so you hesitate. In Herman Melville’s short novel “Bartleby, the Scrivener,” when anyone asks Bartleby for a favor, he always replies, “I would prefer not to.” That’s an example of a disinclination — the feeling that there are other things you’d rather be doing. If someone tells you to eat a lightbulb, you might feel a disinclination to do that, and for good reason. The Latin roots of the word roughly translate to “unable to bend,” which describes your unwilling disinclination quite well.
Vocabulary lists containing disinclination
Novel Study: Lord of the Flies, Chapters 1–4
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George Washington's First Inaugural Address
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Stories of Ourselves
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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.
His posture toward Ukraine weekly demonstrates that disinclination.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 11, 2026
It has reinforced many countries’ natural disinclination to develop nuclear weapons, including among some that have the technical capacity to go that route if they wanted.
From Slate • Jul. 17, 2025
That can produce psychic numbing, the inability or disinclination to feel, which can reach the point of immobilization.
From Salon • Dec. 27, 2024
In a sense, that’s a deflection of the personal scrutiny involved in pop stardom — a move in keeping with Bryan’s general disinclination to fulfill the rituals of celebrity on any platform beyond his own.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 4, 2024
I had no mind for talk, and doubtless showed my disinclination, for my companion, though now and again he would glance at me with an air of curiosity, refrained from questions.
From Lawrence Clavering by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodley)
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.
