predispose
verb
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What is the difference between disposition and predisposition?
What exactly is someone's disposition? And is it different from a predisposition? A person's disposition is his or her usual mood or attitude. Are you typically pretty happy? You could be described as having a happy—or cheerful, or sunny—disposition. Animals have dispositions too; a dog with a nervous disposition doesn't easily relax into a restful pup curled up at someone’s feet. In this use, disposition is a synonym of temperament; both words refer to the complex set of attitudes and inclinations that guide behavior.
Disposition can also mean "tendency" or "inclination," and in such cases it has a surprising synonym: predisposition. A disposition to exaggerate is the same as a predisposition to exaggerate. A disposition toward humility is likewise the same thing as a predisposition toward humility. The fact of being "in advance" that the prefix pre- implies hardly matters when tendency and inclination are concerned, since both concern what is likely to happen in the future.
While phrases like "a disposition to cooperate" are about as common as "a predisposition to cooperate," when the context is medical, predisposition is far more common. Phrases like "a genetic predisposition to nearsightedness" appear much more frequently in published, edited text than similar phrases employing disposition.
Did you know?
Predispose usually means putting someone in a frame of mind to be willing to do something. So a longtime belief in the essential goodness of people, for example, will predispose us to trust a stranger. Teachers know that coming from a stable family generally predisposes children to learn. And viewing television violence for years may leave young people with a predisposition to accept real violence as normal. The medical sense of the word is similar. Thus, a person's genes may predispose her to diabetes or arthritis, and malnutrition over a long period can predispose you to all kinds of infections.
Examples of predispose in a Sentence
NPR, 31 Oct. 2025
Ricks has a brain that predisposes him to violent behavior, according to a neuroscience researcher called by the defense as a witness.
—Emerson Clarridge, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 22 Oct. 2025
Our findings support the idea that, rather than focusing on single genes, taking the whole genome into account would provide insight into how researchers understand what makes someone genetically predisposed to certain diseases and how those diseases develop.
—Santhosh Girirajan, The Conversation, 7 Oct. 2025
While these breeds may be more naturally predisposed not to listen, all dogs can be trained with patience, understanding, and the right training approach.
—Maria Azzurra Volpe, MSNBC Newsweek, 6 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for predispose
Cite this Entry
“Predispose.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predispose. Accessed 8 Nov. 2025.
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Medical Definition
predispose
verb
Legal Definition
predispose
transitive verb
W. R. LaFave and J. H. Israel Note: Predisposition on the part of a defendant vitiates the defense of entrapment.
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