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
Jennifer Jolly, USA Today, 16 Dec. 2025
Kids and kids-at-heart will gravitate towards the natural sledding hills, while grownups make a beeline for outdoor firepits to roast s’mores or sip hot cocoa.
—Lauren Dana Ellman, Travel + Leisure, 16 Dec. 2025
Bloomingdale’s At Bloomingdale’s, customers gravitated toward newness in fragrance, with multiscent discovery sets and multibrand edits performing exceptionally well.
—Kaleigh Werner, Footwear News, 16 Dec. 2025
Teens gravitate toward its mix of basics and trend-forward pieces for both guys and girls.
—Malia Griggs, Glamour, 12 Dec. 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 20 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gravitate
verb
Medical Definition
gravitate
intransitive verb
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