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definitions

apt

[apt]
See more synonyms for apt on Thesaurus.com
adjective
  1. inclined; disposed; given; prone: too apt to slander others.
  2. likely: Am I apt to find him at home?
  3. unusually intelligent; able to learn quickly and easily: an apt pupil.
  4. suited to the purpose or occasion; appropriate: an apt metaphor; a few apt remarks on world peace.
  5. Archaic. prepared; ready; willing.

Origin of apt

1350–1400; Middle English (< Anglo-French) < Latin aptus fastened, fitted, fitting, appropriate, equivalent to ap- fasten, attach + -tus past participle suffix
Related formsapt·ly, adverbapt·ness, nouno·ver·apt, adjectiveo·ver·apt·ly, adverbo·ver·apt·ness, noun
Can be confusedapt likely (see usage note at likely)

Synonyms for apt

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1. liable. 3. clever, bright; adaptable; handy, adroit, dexterous, skillful. 4. fitting, meet, germane, felicitous.

Synonym study

4. Apt, pertinent, relevant all refer to something suitable or fitting. Apt means to the point and particularly appropriate: an apt comment. Pertinent means pertaining to the matter in hand: a pertinent remark. Relevant means directly related to and important to the subject: a relevant opinion.

Usage note

Some usage guides insist that apt followed by an infinitive can or should be used to mean only “inclined, disposed”: He is apt to ignore matters he regards as unimportant. In fact, apt is standard in all varieties of speech and writing as a synonym for likely in contexts that suggest probability without any implication of a natural disposition toward: Hostilities are apt to break out if the confrontation is not soon resolved. She is apt to arrive almost any time now. See also liable, likely.

apt.

plural apts.
  1. apartment.
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for apt

relevant, appropriate, felicitous, fitting, apropos, suitable, correct, happy, likely, prone, adept, intelligent, able, smart, applicable, apposite, befitting, fit, germane, just

Examples from the Web for apt

Contemporary Examples of apt

Historical Examples of apt

  • She was distrustful of the future, and apt to anticipate bad fortune.

    Brave and Bold

    Horatio Alger

  • She was apt not only to know what she talked about, but she was a woman of resource, unafraid of action.

    The Spenders

    Harry Leon Wilson

  • Sympathetic persons are apt to assume that every refined emotion must be ennobling.

    Malbone

    Thomas Wentworth Higginson

  • He confessed to me that he was apt to go astray when intent on rhyme.

    Biographical Sketches

    Nathaniel Hawthorne

  • The St. is an apt illustration of the probable workings of Plautus' mind.

    The Dramatic Values in Plautus

    Wilton Wallace Blancke

British Dictionary definitions for apt

apt

adjective
  1. suitable for the circumstance or purpose; appropriate
  2. (postpositive; foll by an infinitive) having a tendency (to behave as specified)
  3. having the ability to learn and understand easily; clever (esp in the phrase an apt pupil)
Derived Formsaptly, adverbaptness, noun

Word Origin for apt

C14: from Latin aptus fitting, suitable, from apere to fasten

apt.

abbreviation for plural apts.
  1. apartment
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Word Origin and History for apt
adj.

mid-14c., "inclined, disposed;" late 14c., "suited, fitted, adapted," from Old French ate (13c., Modern French apte), or directly from Latin aptus "fit, suited," adjectival use of past participle of *apere "to attach, join, tie to," from PIE root *ap- "to grasp, take, reach" (cf. Sanskrit apnoti "he reaches," Latin apisci "to reach after, attain," Hittite epmi "I seize"). Elliptical sense of "becoming, appropriate" is from 1560s.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper