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
Jerry McDonald, Mercury News, 24 Dec. 2025
Culturally, Japanese listeners tend to favor the producers of the tracks, while English-speaking listeners often gravitate toward the characters associated with virtual singer software (voicebanks).
—Billboard Japan, Billboard, 23 Dec. 2025
Shoppers are gravitating toward pieces that simplify their everyday decision-making while expressing personal values of quality, longevity and authenticity.
—Rhonda Richford, Footwear News, 22 Dec. 2025
Kate gravitated toward soft pastel shades rather than bold colors, poring over sample books and choosing mostly neutral tones — including a cream-and-light-brown herringbone stripe for curtains and a darker beige with a terracotta herringbone pattern for a potential sofa.
—Simon Perry, PEOPLE, 21 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 29 Dec. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
gravitate
verb
Medical Definition
gravitate
intransitive verb
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