predisposition
Americannoun
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predispositions
plural
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the fact or condition of being predisposed.
a predisposition to think optimistically.
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Medicine/Medical. tendency to a condition or quality, usually based on the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors.
noun
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the condition of being predisposed
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med susceptibility to a specific disease See diathesis
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of predisposition
First recorded in 1615–25; pre- + disposition
Explanation
A predisposition is a tendency to do something. If you know you have a predisposition toward getting carsick, better to plan ahead and avoid eating before a long drive. Things could get ugly. Predisposition comes from the Latin prae meaning "before," and disponere meaning "put in order, arrange, distribute." If you have a predisposition to think or act a certain way, you can anticipate your reaction before it happens. A genetic predisposition means you are likely to inherit a trait from your parents. Someone might have a genetic predisposition to diabetes or to another illness.
Vocabulary lists containing predisposition
"Magic and the Brain," Vocabulary from the magazine article
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The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
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Cosmos
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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.
See Examples For:
But a genetic predisposition and family history aren’t the only causes of a dissection.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
Breast cancer isn’t just a ‘pink’ disease; for men with a family history or genetic predisposition, a mammogram can be a lifesaving tool that overrides social stigma.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 10, 2026
Your ideal rise time is linked to your chronotype, your genetic predisposition to waking at a certain time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 11, 2026
The Oscar-winning actor announced in 2013 that she had undergone a double mastectomy, followed by a double oophorectomy in 2015, due to her genetic predisposition to cancer.
From Barron's ● Dec. 15, 2025
For a while she’d struggled against her predisposition.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Bonta said the failure resulted in a 2023 data breach which exposed genetic predispositions and risk factors of nearly seven million users, plus information about biological relatives, ancestry, and ethnicity.
From BBC ● May 28, 2026
That being said, medical professionals have noticed some patterns that may lead us to understand predispositions.
From Slate ● Mar. 15, 2026
In the 1990s, teams of scientists — supported at least in part by NIH funding — tracked down the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes responsible for inherited predispositions to breast and other cancers.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2025
That is where we dig deeper and the explanations for the differences in self-reported happiness may be mental health, personality traits, genetic predispositions, etc.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2025
But our psychological predispositions pro or con must not mislead us.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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.
