bias
noun
a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned.
Showing results for "bias"
- a variation of Beas.
Trivia Time
In K-pop fandom, what does bias mean?
bias
1 American
[bahy-uhs]
/ ˈbaɪ əs /
noun
-
biases
plural
-
a particular tendency, trend, inclination, feeling, or opinion, especially one that is preconceived or unreasoned.
The hiring manager was found to have shown bias against job applicants who wore less expensive clothing.
The magazine’s bias is toward art rather than photography.
We need to set aside our strong bias in favor of the idea and evaluate it logically.
- Synonyms:
- leaning, bent, proclivity, partiality, predilection, preconception, predisposition
- Antonyms:
- impartiality
-
unreasonably hostile feelings or opinions about a social group; prejudice.
The show’s host has faced accusations of racial bias.
-
an oblique or diagonal line of direction, especially across a woven fabric.
-
Statistics. a systematic as opposed to random distortion of a statistic as a result of sampling procedure.
-
Electronics. the application of a steady voltage or current to an active device, such as a diode or transistor, to produce a desired mode of operation.
-
a high-frequency alternating current applied to the recording head of a tape recorder during recording in order to reduce distortion.
-
Lawn Bowling.
-
a slight bulge or greater weight on one side of the ball or bowl.
-
the curved course made by such a ball when rolled.
-
adjective
adverb
verb (used with object)
-
biases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
biased,
past participle, past
-
biassed,
past participle, past (especially British)
-
biasing,
present participle
-
biassing
present participle (especially British)
-
to cause to hold or exhibit a particular bias; to influence, especially unfairly.
The defendant gave a tearful plea designed to bias the jury.
The survey was heavily biased toward highly educated people.
- Synonyms:
- bend, predispose, dispose, incline
-
Electronics. to apply a steady voltage or current to (the input of an active device).
idioms
Bias
2
American
[bahy-uhs]
/ ˈbaɪ əs /
noun
bias
British
/ ˈbaɪəs /
noun
-
mental tendency or inclination, esp an irrational preference or prejudice
-
a diagonal line or cut across the weave of a fabric
-
electronics the voltage applied to an electronic device or system to establish suitable working conditions
-
bowls
-
a bulge or weight inside one side of a bowl
-
the curved course of such a bowl on the green
-
-
statistics
-
an extraneous latent influence on, unrecognized conflated variable in, or selectivity in a sample which influences its distribution and so renders it unable to reflect the desired population parameters
-
if T is an estimator of the parameter θ , the expected value of ( T–θ )
-
-
an inaudible high-frequency signal used to improve the quality of a tape recording
adjective
adverb
verb
Usage
Plural word for bias The plural form of bias is biases, pronounced [ bahy-uhs-eez ] or [ bahy-uhs-ehz ]. The plurals of several other singular words that end in -s are also formed this way, including alias/aliases, moss/mosses, and lens/lenses. However, bias is often used as a mass noun, meaning that in some instances bias may be used as either a singular or a plural form. The plural form biasses is obsolete and should be avoided.
Synonym Usage
Bias, prejudice mean a strong inclination of the mind or a preconceived opinion about something or someone. A bias may be favorable or unfavorable: bias in favor of or against an idea. Prejudice implies a preformed judgment even more unreasoning than bias, and usually implies an unfavorable opinion: prejudice against people of another religion.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
biassimple
-
biasessimple
-
have biasedperfect
-
have biassedperfect
-
has biasedperfect
-
has biassedperfect
-
am biasingprogressive
-
am biassingprogressive
-
are biasingprogressive
-
are biassingprogressive
-
is biasingprogressive
-
is biassingprogressive
-
have been biasingperfect progressive
-
have been biassingperfect progressive
-
has been biasingperfect progressive
-
has been biassingperfect progressive
Past
-
biasedsimple
-
biassedsimple
-
had biasedperfect
-
had biassedperfect
-
was biasingprogressive
-
was biassingprogressive
-
were biasingprogressive
-
were biassingprogressive
-
had been biasingperfect progressive
-
had been biassingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of bias
First recorded in 1520–30; from Middle French biais “obliqueness,” from Old Provençal, probably from Vulgar Latin (e)bigassius (unrecorded), from Greek epikársios “oblique,” from epi- epi- + -karsios “oblique”; alternatively, from Vulgar Latin biaxius (unrecorded) “having two axes” ( see bi-, axis)
Explanation
Use the noun bias to mean a preference for one thing over another, especially an unfair one. Some biases are completely innocent: "I have a bias toward French wines." But most often, bias is used to describe unfair prejudices: "The authorities investigated a case involving bias against Latinos." It is also a verb meaning "to show prejudice for or against," as in "They claimed the tests were biased against women." (In British English, it takes an extra S in the forms biassed and biassing.) The word goes back at least to Old Provençal, a former language of southern France, in association with the sport of lawn bowling, where it referred to the tendency of a ball to roll in one direction or the other.
Vocabulary lists containing bias
100 Top "SAT" Words
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Argumentative Writing
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Argumentative Writing, List 1
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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.
See Examples For:
Psychologists call this normalcy bias, which is our mind’s assumption that things will continue as they always have.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 13, 2026
Becerra’s critics subscribe to “this very American bias that an immigrant only moves once to the U.S., the land of opportunity, of hope — all that mythology,” Gradilla continued.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
He later apologised and denied he was accusing her of bias.
From BBC ● Oct. 6, 2026
The researchers also note that food frequency questionnaires rely on participants accurately remembering what they ate, which can introduce recall bias.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 1, 2026
The common impression that pre-agricultural humans lived in an age of stone is a misconception based on this archaeological bias.
From "Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind" by Yuval Noah Harari
Members of UCLA’s Task Force to Combat Antisemitism and Anti-Israeli Bias, which in a 2024 report found “broad-based perceptions of antisemitic and anti-Israeli bias on campus,” did not sign.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 17, 2026
Craighill told the Post that Advantage advised Bias to moderate his spending but couldn’t force him to do that.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
Len Bias, a 6-foot-8 basketball player at the University of Maryland who was drafted by the Boston Celtics in 1986 as the NBA’s No. 2 overall pick, was a promising client.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 21, 2026
That is the finding of a new research study, “Conflicting News, Negativity Bias, and Short-Term Return Predictability.”
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 24, 2025
I read the report of Bias Roca, the general secretary of the Communist Party of Cuba, about their years as an illegal organization during the Batista regime.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
The findings also demonstrate why scientists must draw on several independent methods when reconstructing population histories, particularly when written records are incomplete, unreliable, or shaped by historical biases.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 14, 2026
Oblivious to her own biases about who Leo is and why, Mallory poses as a therapist keen on saving his life, but uses their faux sessions to mine his story for literary gold.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026
This is because public data used to train many AI systems can reflect existing societal biases such as sexism or racism.
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
But nonprofit monitors come with their own biases and business ties.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 13, 2026
Ultimately, a jury who brought many presumptions and biases to the trial of Marsha Colbey was selected to decide her fate.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Richard said it was massive to bring it back: "I may be a little bit biased but I think it's the biggest story in UK ice hockey this year."
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
However, those associations have generally been modest, and scientists have not been sure whether biased attention contributes to depression or develops because of it.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 29, 2026
Yet today, many Jews believe that publishing is biased against them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 10, 2026
“The Department takes allegations of discriminatory or biased conduct seriously,” the statement read.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
They weren't partial or biased, just very persuasive in detailing how organic brain damage, schizophrenia, and bipolar disorder can conspire to create severe mental impairment.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
The same spirit, biassed by sentiment not ruled by reason, has remained since more has been disclosed of the real nature of this Codex208.
From The Traditional Text of the Holy Gospels by John William Burgon
It has always been undertaken with some special practical problem in view, and is consequently always fragmentary and frequently biassed.
From Household Administration Its Place in the Higher Education of Women by Various
They proceed to their work with a biassed mind.
From Tobacco Leaves Being a Book of Facts for Smokers by W. A. Brennan
He should not be biassed by any appearances; have no favourite hypothesis; be of no school; and in doctrine have no master.
From Heroes of Science: Physicists by William Garnett
That Mr. Wallace himself should be biassed in this matter might, perhaps, be expected.
From Darwin, and After Darwin, Volume 2 Post-Darwinian Questions: Heredity and Utility by George John Romanes
That smaller sample means certain demographic groups may be over- or under-covered, biasing the total estimates.
From Slate ● Sep. 17, 2026
That meant that researchers could keep the organoids separated without biasing their experimental results.
From Science Daily ● Oct. 18, 2025
It’s a cool observation, Turner says, although more work needs to be done to ensure that the Apollo 15 site isn’t biasing the results.
From Science Magazine ● Mar. 20, 2024
But he told Reuters in an interview that the economy is biasing the central bank in that direction.
From Reuters ● Sep. 14, 2023
Such ideas as these are corrupting courts, and biasing the public mind, and the injury is more than apparent to the observer.
From The Use and Need of the Life of Carry A. Nation by Carry Amelia Nation
But the truth is that, if we set aside matters of trivial import, the enormous majority of human judgments are those into which the biassing power off likes and dislikes more or less largely enters.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 6 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Robert Green Ingersoll
There would be no harm in biassing me in her favour.
From Ellen Middleton—A Tale by Georgiana Fullerton
Still the attitude created by the Tubingen theory largely persists as a biassing element in much that is written about Acts.
From The Project Gutenberg Encyclopedia Volume 1 of 28 by Project Gutenberg
Even if he was going to revise his views, was it right, was it candid, was it loyal to the truth, that he should revise them under the biassing influence of Meenie's eyes?
From Strange Stories by Grant Allen
However, this is beside the question; and I want to avoid biassing your decision in any way.
From Afloat at Last A Sailor Boy's Log of his Life at Sea by William Heysham Overend
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
