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Don't Get Stuck on the Meaning of Inherent
Inherent literally refers to something that is "stuck in" something else so firmly that they can't be separated. A plan may have an inherent flaw that will cause it to fail; a person may have inherent virtues that everyone admires. Since the flaw and the virtues can't be removed, the plan may simply have to be thrown out and the person will remain virtuous forever.
Examples of inherent in a Sentence
It is one more proof that our world has lost the kind of exquisite sensibility displayed by John Milton when he came up with his definition of poetry. He first wrote "simple, sensual, and passionate," but he was bothered by the grossness inherent in "sensual," and so he invented the word "sensuous."
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Florence King, National Review, 24 Sept. 2007
There were those who trusted the innate goodness of humanity, and those who believed in its inherent crookedness.
—Terry Eagleton, Harper's, March 2005
The problem … is inherent and perennial in any democracy, but it has been more severe in ours during the past quarter-century because of the near universal denigration of government, politics and politicians.
—Michael Kinsley, Time, 29 Oct. 2001
He has an inherent sense of fair play.
an inherent concept of justice
Florence King, National Review, 24 Sept. 2007
There were those who trusted the innate goodness of humanity, and those who believed in its inherent crookedness.
—Terry Eagleton, Harper's, March 2005
The problem … is inherent and perennial in any democracy, but it has been more severe in ours during the past quarter-century because of the near universal denigration of government, politics and politicians.
—Michael Kinsley, Time, 29 Oct. 2001
He has an inherent sense of fair play.
an inherent concept of justice
Recent Examples on the Web
Performance Trade-Offs: Real-time applications face inherent constraints due to the computational overhead of symbolic reasoning, knowledge graph traversal and the general reduction in inference speeds compared to pure neural approaches.
—Anuradha Weeraman, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The fibers’ inherent comfort also resonates with lifestyle brands like Ugg.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 30 June 2025
That note mingles with flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, roasted espresso, baking spice, black pepper, and molasses, and the whiskey’s inherent sweetness is nicely tempered by the spice from the high percentage of rye in the recipe.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 29 June 2025
The Court, in Trump v. CASA, Inc., bypassed for now the underlying issue in the case — Donald Trump’s effort to reopen the constitutional status of birthright citizenship — and ruled that federal district judges have no inherent power to issue nationwide injunctions.
—The Editors, National Review, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for inherent
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Anuradha Weeraman, Forbes.com, 1 July 2025
The fibers’ inherent comfort also resonates with lifestyle brands like Ugg.
—Sj Studio, Sourcing Journal, 30 June 2025
That note mingles with flavors of dark chocolate, caramel, roasted espresso, baking spice, black pepper, and molasses, and the whiskey’s inherent sweetness is nicely tempered by the spice from the high percentage of rye in the recipe.
—Jonah Flicker, Robb Report, 29 June 2025
The Court, in Trump v. CASA, Inc., bypassed for now the underlying issue in the case — Donald Trump’s effort to reopen the constitutional status of birthright citizenship — and ruled that federal district judges have no inherent power to issue nationwide injunctions.
—The Editors, National Review, 27 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for inherent
Cite this Entry
“Inherent.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/inherent. Accessed 5 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
inherent
adjective
in·her·ent
in-ˈhir-ənt 
-ˈher-
: belonging to or being a part of the nature of a person or thing
an inherent sense of fair play
fluidity is an inherent quality of gas
inherently
adverb
Medical Definition
inherent
adjective
in·her·ent
in-ˈhir-ənt
in-ˈher-
in-ˈher-
: involved in the constitution or essential character of something : belonging by nature
the skin's inherent elasticity—Kathleen C. Engles
Kathleen C. Engles
inherently
adverb
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