prepossession
Americannoun
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the state of being prepossessed.
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a prejudice, especially one in favor of a person or thing.
- Synonyms:
- interest, bias, liking, predilection
noun
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the state or condition of being prepossessed
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a prejudice or bias, esp a favourable one
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of prepossession
First recorded in 1640–50; pre- + possession
Explanation
Prepossession is a prejudice or a preconceived idea about something. You might be accused of prepossession if you decided you were going to dislike your new job before you'd even started working there. When you've got a strong opinion about a subject — or a person — despite having little information or direct experience, that's prepossession. Your prepossession on the subject of cats might make it hard for you to be enthusiastic about your roommate's new kitten, for example. The obsolete verb prepossess originally meant "to get possession of beforehand." By the 1630's, it came to mean "to possess a person beforehand with a feeling or idea," usually in a positive sense.
Vocabulary lists containing prepossession
"Common Sense," Vocabulary from the pamphlet
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Common Sense
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Society and Solitude
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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.
Men," he says, "are carried by a natural instinct or prepossession to repose faith in their senses.
From Heresy: Its Utility And Morality A Plea And A Justification by Bradlaugh, Charles
It is owing to a prepossession that people say that genius must die early; I think that from the thirtieth to the thirty-fourth year has been indicated as the most dangerous period for genius.
From The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine by Heine, Heinrich
I cannot take it upon myself to say—I cannot possibly answer—but I do not know of any prepossession in her case, and I am sure she can have no objection to listen to you.
From Pride and Predjudice, a play by Mackaye, Mary Keith Medbery
I may be foolish to do so--the prepossession may be false--the motives for such belief may be slight; but yet that belief is strong.
From The Gipsy (Vols I & II) A Tale by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
Such a prepossession of mind must be overcome.
From Psychotherapy by Walsh, James J. (James Joseph)
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.
