gravitate
verb
Rose Friedman
Did you know?
The force is strong in the family of words descended from the Latin adjective gravis, meaning “heavy”: gravitation has it, graviton has it, and gravitate has it, too. That force is gravity (gravity being another gravis descendent), a fundamental physical force that is responsible for bringing us literally back down to earth (or Tattooine, as it were). But you don’t have to be a full-fledged linguistic Jedi, young padawan, to know that gravity, like its Latin ancestor, also has figurative meanings, as does gravitate. When it first landed in the 17th century, gravitate meant “to apply pressure or weight,” and later it maintained its connection to literal gravity with a sense (still in use today) meaning “to move under the effect of gravitation.” It then, however, acquired a more general sense of “to move toward something” (such as toward a specific location), and finally a metaphorical sense of “to be attracted,” as in, “when choosing movies to watch she often gravitates toward space operas.”
Examples of gravitate in a Sentence
Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 25 Apr. 2025
Ralph Lauren is a designer that Markle often gravitates toward for public engagements.
—Julia Teti, Footwear News, 23 Apr. 2025
Young workers are gravitating toward technology and service-sector opportunities that offer different career trajectories.
—Tim Bajarin, Forbes.com, 22 Apr. 2025
Zinus Suzanne Daybed with Trundle $191 Amazon Specs There’s something for people who gravitate toward Scandi and industrial-style interior design in this affordable metal and wood bed.
—Blake Bakkila, Architectural Digest, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for gravitate
Cite this Entry
“Gravitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravitate. Accessed 30 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gravitate
verb
Medical Definition
gravitate
intransitive verb
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