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
Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 9 Apr. 2025
At a time when practically the entire rom-com genre has gravitated to streaming, this bilingual theatrical offering from Sony Pictures Classics feels like the best kind of throwback.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 Apr. 2025
In a more traditional sense, knobs are gravitating towards ovals and circles (both rounded and flat) while pulls and handles with rounded edges are creeping into the mainstream options.
—Cameron Beall, Southern Living, 5 Apr. 2025
Consumers are visiting multiple grocers to compare prices, prioritizing private-label brands, and gravitating toward discount and specialty retailers.
—Naveen Jaggi, Forbes.com, 2 Apr. 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 22 Apr. 2025.
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gravitate
verb
Medical Definition
gravitate
intransitive verb
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