predisposition

[ pree-dis-puh-zish-uhn, pree-dis- ]

noun

1. the fact or condition of being predisposed:

   a predisposition to think optimistically.

2. Medicine/Medical. tendency to a condition or quality, usually based on the combined effects of genetic and environmental factors.

Other Words From

• pre·dispo·sition·al adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of predisposition¹

First recorded in 1615–25; pre- + disposition

Example Sentences

Maybe running lots of ultramarathons adds a few months of life expectancy for 99 percent of us, but shortens it by a decade for an unlucky fraction of a percent who have some sort of underlying issue or genetic predisposition.

From Outside Online

It could be a person’s lucky number, there could be some weird human predisposition to these digits.

From Nautilus

We have an innate predisposition for music, there’s no question about that.

From Nautilus

Few of the cancer-stricken family members were related by blood to the Goolsbys — some had married into the family — which, to Andrea, ruled out the possibility that the cancers were caused by a genetic predisposition.

From ProPublica

“You can have a genetic predisposition to depression,” Gotlib says.

From Science News For Students

“In general, loneliness is more a personal predisposition than an objective social condition,” he said.

From The Daily Beast

He flatly stated that sexual orientation is a matter of biological predisposition.

From The Daily Beast

Basso said Alleman had a genetic predisposition for cardiac problems, as both of his parents died of heart attacks in their 50s.

From The Daily Beast

When was the first time I realized this was beyond a predisposition to anxiety?

From The Daily Beast

But his ideological predisposition matters less than budgetary reality.

From The Daily Beast

For what less than disease can we call a necessity of error and a predisposition to sin and sickness?

From Project Gutenberg

But the good man's plans could not prevail against his nephew's predisposition for the land.

From Project Gutenberg

This statement may be interpreted to refer to a predisposition rather than to an inherited characteristic.

From Project Gutenberg

It cannot be disputed that man bears within himself, in his personality, a predisposition for divinity.

From Project Gutenberg

Hence, especially if there be any pre-existing uterine disease, or a predisposition thereto, miscarriage is a serious thing.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• disposition
• predilection
• proclivity
• propensity
• susceptibility