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
Kirk Kenney, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 Apr. 2026
For the kind of traveler who gravitates toward local food scenes, independent businesses and unhurried experiences, a drizzly Seattle day is actually a gift.
—Lauren Schuster, Sacbee.com, 23 Apr. 2026
Both gravitated toward the political center.
—ABC News, 23 Apr. 2026
Coming into the year, the American League Central was pretty much a three-horse race, with most people gravitating to the Tigers winning the division.
—David Troy Outkick, FOXNews.com, 22 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for gravitate
Cite this Entry
“Gravitate.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/gravitate. Accessed 26 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gravitate
verb
Medical Definition
gravitate
intransitive verb
