bent
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Determined or insistent.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
behntIPA pronunciation (US)
ˈbɛnt
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
adjective
with on
Determined or insistent; inclined, set.
Of something that is usually straight
Folded, dented.
colloquialchiefly uk
Corrupt, dishonest.
with about
Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet.
Of a person
Leading a life of crime.
colloquialchiefly us
Suffering from the bends.
noun
A relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way
A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.
The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
An inclination or talent.
Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B1 · Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- General and technical use
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (with on) Determined or insistent; inclined, set.
Used this way, bent is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
More ways to use bent
- “He had a bent for it.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
A hang performed with the elbows bent.
Grass for pastures and lawns especially bowling and putting greens.
Common grass with slender stems and narrow leaves.
Common pasture or lawn grass spread by long runners.
Common grass with slender stems and narrow leaves.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.