inclined
Americanadjective
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deviating in direction from the horizontal or vertical; sloping.
-
disposed; of a mind (usually followed byto ).
He was inclined to stay.
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having a physical tendency; leaning.
-
tending in a direction that makes an angle with anything else.
adjective
-
having a disposition; tending
-
sloping or slanting
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of inclined
First recorded in 1350–1400, inclined is from the Middle English word enclyned. See incline, -ed 2
Explanation
If you're inclined to do something, you want to do it, you like doing it, and you may even have an inherent talent for doing it. Alternatively, if the sidewalk outside your house is inclined, that means it slopes upward. Inclined means that you're likely to do something, you're leaning toward doing it, or you do it habitually. If you're inclined to eat too much at Thanksgiving, you're not alone. If you're inclined to want to join the Iditarod dog sled race, get a warm jacket. Inclined can also be an adjective describing something that's at an angle. If a ramp is inclined, it's on a slant, sloping up toward something else.
Vocabulary lists containing inclined
The Vocabulary.com Top 1000
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe
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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.
"Financial markets are inclined to short-sightedness," analysts at Metzler Asset Management in Germany said in a note.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
District Judge Maame Ewusi-Mensah Frimpong appeared inclined to grant a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s immigration raids in Southern California.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
They became less focused on tending larvae and more inclined to forage.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026
Skidelsky demonstrates that Keynes’s desire to enable more people to experience the higher goods identified by Moore, such as friendship and aesthetic enjoyment, inclined Keynes to approach economics as “an end-satisfying system.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
He cast a glance in Moss’s direction, and Moss inclined his head.
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
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.
