as in preferred
to show partiality toward
I'm leaning toward sausage on our pizza tonight—we got pepperoni the last three times
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for leaned (toward or towards)
Verb
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As for those who preferred the old style of kickoff, a few players were critical of how punitive touchbacks are against the kicking team.—
The Athletic NFL Staff,
New York Times,
28 Jan. 2026 -
They are equipped with a modular temple system allowing smart audio temples to be swapped for standard ones when needed or preferred.—
Martino Carrera,
Footwear News,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Richard and Moody tried their hands at Butler-style pullup jumpers, and Hield handled the ball a tad more than Kerr would have probably liked.—
Joseph Dycus,
Mercury News,
27 Jan. 2026
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In the soundtrack of his youth, Walter Thompson-Hernández and his friends liked to devise a game of escape.—
Jason Parham,
Los Angeles Times,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This dish is best enjoyed shortly after it’s made.—
Hana Asbrink,
Bon Appetit Magazine,
27 Jan. 2026
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Citi has enjoyed a 70% adoption rate of its proprietary AI tools, according to 2025 fourth-quarter findings, and colleagues across 84 countries interacted with the bank’s AI tools over 21 million times.—
Emma Burleigh,
Fortune,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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And the world’s favored by a safety.—
Sean Keeler,
Denver Post,
13 Jan. 2026
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Carter was a Sunday-school teacher in the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination that had favored Republican candidates since 1948, but almost 60 percent of which went for Carter in the ’76 election.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
12 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Leaned (toward or towards).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leaned%20%28toward%20or%20towards%29. Accessed 29 Jan. 2026.
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