Showing Results for "predisposed"

See Also:

• past tense form of predispose.
• past participle of predispose.

predisposed

American  

[pree-di-spohzd] / ˌpri dɪˈspoʊzd /

adjective

1. having or showing an inclination or tendency toward a specified condition, opinion, behavior, etc., beforehand.

   Many studies show how genes interact with the environment to cause disease in predisposed individuals.

   The novel is skillfully written, but in a style that requires close reading and a predisposed reader.

---

verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of predispose.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• unpredisposed
  adjective
• predisposedness
  noun
• predisposedly
  adverb

Etymology

Origin of predisposed

predispose ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Explanation

If you’re predisposed to something, you’re heading in that direction already — you already have a tendency to develop it. Your medical history or your habits could make you predisposed to a condition, like high blood pressure, or chocolate addiction. Predisposed often describes medical conditions, but it can refer to any tendency. You might be predisposed to a pessimistic outlook. You’re probably predisposed to like someone one of your friends likes. Or you could be predisposed to act in a certain way. If you’re really proud of your dad’s work as a lawyer, you might be predisposed to become a lawyer yourself.

Example Sentences

Predisposed to side with the underdog against a Latin American military junta and against U.S. military intervention, many of the correspondents wrote glowing accounts of their fleeting interviews with the rebels.

From Time Magazine Archive

Predisposed though we certainly were to do every justice to the original strains of Mr Sheldon, he will forgive us when we own that the ancient ballads were the primary objects of our quest.

From Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, Volume 61, No. 379, May, 1847 by Various

Predisposed to melancholy, and inheriting a not very strong mind from her father, Ophelia was a lady who needed cheering up, if ever poor lady did.

From A Midnight Fantasy by Aldrich, Thomas Bailey

Predisposed to believe a story of this kind, he could not reason as he might have done if fear of Barfoot had never entered his thoughts.

From The Odd Women by Gissing, George

The sunshine-coloured fists Beyond his dimpling wrists Were never closed For saving or for sparing— For only deeds of daring Predisposed.

From Studies in Song, A Century of Roundels, Sonnets on English Dramatic Poets, The Heptalogia, Etc From Swinburne's Poems Volume V. by Swinburne, Algernon Charles