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.
Disinclination to food, loss of appetite, and even the occurrence of some nausea, as well as some constipation, are easily traced to kidney reflexes.
From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
Disinclination for the self-sacrifice of active life and weariness of the things of the earth lead naturally to absorption in the things of heaven.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 10, Slice 7 "Fox, George" to "France" by Various
These Beginnings of Disinclination soon improved into a Formality of Behaviour; a general Coldness, and by natural Steps into an irreconcilable Hatred.
From The Spectator, Volume 1 Eighteenth-Century Periodical Essays by Addison, Joseph
Disinclination and rumatiz both made me waive off overtures to try it.
From Samantha at Coney Island and a Thousand Other Islands by Holley, Marietta
Disinclination on their part has lately broken off a treaty between Spain and them, whereon they were to have received a million of dollars, besides great presents in naval stores.
From Memoir, Correspondence, And Miscellanies, From The Papers Of Thomas Jefferson, Volume 1 by Randolph, Thomas Jefferson
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.
