gravitate

American  

[grav-i-tayt] / ˈgræv ɪˌteɪt /

verb (used without object)

• gravitates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• gravitated,
  past participle,  past
• gravitating
  present participle

1. 

   to move or tend to move under the influence of gravitational force.

2. to tend toward the lowest level; sink; fall.

3. to have a natural tendency or be strongly attracted (usually followed by to ortoward ).

   Musicians gravitate toward one another.

   Synonyms:

   move, lean, tend, incline

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gravitate British  

/ ˈɡrævɪˌteɪt /

verb

1. physics to move under the influence of gravity

2. to be influenced or drawn, as by strong impulses

3. to sink or settle

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• gravitater
  noun
• supergravitate
  verb (used without object)
• ungravitating
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• gravitating
  present
• gravitated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• gravitate
  simple
• gravitates
  simple
• have gravitated
  perfect
• has gravitated
  perfect
• am gravitating
  progressive
• are gravitating
  progressive
• is gravitating
  progressive
• have been gravitating
  perfect progressive
• has been gravitating
  perfect progressive

Past

• gravitated
  simple
• had gravitated
  perfect
• was gravitating
  progressive
• were gravitating
  progressive
• had been gravitating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will gravitate
  simple
• will have gravitated
  perfect
• will be gravitating
  progressive
• will have been gravitating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of gravitate

First recorded in 1635–45; from New Latin gravitātus (past participle of gravitāre “to obey the laws of gravitation,” coined by Sir Isaac Newton ); see gravity, -ate ¹

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Explanation

To gravitate is to move toward or feel attracted to something. People gravitate toward things they like. Gravitate used to refer to how gravity pulls objects toward the Earth, but now it also describes how people are pulled toward things they like. Little kids gravitate towards playgrounds, someone athletic will gravitate toward sports, and someone with a nice voice might gravitate toward a singing career. Dogs gravitate toward squirrels — they move toward them whenever they have a chance. But don’t blame gravity for that one!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gravitate gravitates gravitated gravitating

It strikes me that the people who gravitate toward these bots not only feel lonely but also are actively excluded from circles of support.

From Slate ● Sep. 29, 2026

“If every movie is so amazing, five stars on Letterboxd every time, those people you’re not going to want to gravitate towards,” Hillard added.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

If Apple maintains the price of the 17 and 17 Air next week, “sales would gravitate toward those two models” and create pressure on the 18 lineup, Lee said.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 7, 2026

James said he has noticed younger viewers often gravitate toward fast-paced content and advice.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 16, 2026

A handful of the hyper-rich gravitate toward Lilly Pulitzer to give themselves a blue-blood look.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Some nod to what’s happening in America, such as when Carrie discovers the school library and gravitates straight to books that have been banned from classrooms and community libraries across the country.

From Salon ● Oct. 31, 2026

But she still fears people "make assumptions" based on her accent so at networking events she gravitates towards others with a Welsh accent.

From BBC ● Aug. 23, 2026

Frick gravitates toward books about people “who thought their life was going to follow a certain script, and then something shifts and the script changes,” she says.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026

That intentional crossover between music and comedy is part of why Bird gravitates to Largo.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026

Lately Gogol has started to notice a trend: now that they inhabit this world of couples, dinner party small talk gravitates to the naming of children.

From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri

However, PepsiCo’s stock is down around 10.6% so far this year, as inflation-battered shoppers have recalibrated their snack budgets and gravitated toward cheaper private-label brands.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 15, 2026

You both gravitated toward Norman Rockwell’s “The Problem We All Live With” — why did it stand out to you?

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 23, 2026

The role of the Five Nations as English allies was complicated because some Mohawks had already gravitated to Catholic missions in New France and supported the French.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Investors looked past low yields and gravitated to stability in an economy that is increasingly dependent on the rapid expansion of artificial intelligence.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026

The four of us gravitated to Volpe for a reason.

From "Drama High" by Michael Sokolove

Lately, Skarsgård seems to be doing the same, gravitating toward roles that, at their core, interrogate the impact his looks have on other people.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 22, 2026

For many brands, these dilemmas are likely to loom ever larger as consumers continue gravitating to private-label products.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

“People are gravitating to people that they trust,” Hillard said.

From Salon ● Sep. 9, 2026

“In that context, people are gravitating towards the largest players in the industry and looking at us to provide the antidotes to this development in AI,” Arora said in an interview.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

That evening the Negroes in Hampton stayed in the cocoon of our segregated neighborhoods, gravitating to our churches to try to make sense of our collective tragedy.

From "Reaching for the Moon" by Katherine Johnson

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Related Words

• drift
• incline
• lean
• tend

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