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:
The Framers understood that, even for the most virtuous, receipt of favors creates a predisposition to do favors in return.
From Slate ● Oct. 30, 2026
“They know that their body has a predisposition to go back to their highest weight,” she says.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2026
Researchers are also interested in whether improving sleep could eventually help prevent or slow disease progression among people with a genetic predisposition to Alzheimer's.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 29, 2026
But a genetic predisposition and family history aren’t the only causes of a dissection.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 13, 2026
If, after all, he was an outlier, someone with a predisposition to dis-traction, it would be worth knowing.
From "A Deadly Wandering: A Mystery, a Landmark Investigation, and the Astonishing Science of Attention in the Digital Age" by Matt Richtel
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
"The study shows that we are born with different genetic predispositions and that it is difficult to bring about long-term change in this regard through policy measures."
From Science Daily ● May 6, 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
Certain people, because of their predispositions, tend to see the glass as being half full or half empty to begin with.
From Salon ● Apr. 14, 2025
But our psychological predispositions pro or con must not mislead us.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
