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incline

verb · noun

Simple meaning

To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view.

Pronunciation

Say it like this:

ihnklyn

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US device voice
IPA pronunciation (US)

ɪnkˈlaɪn

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.

Word Review

Definition

Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.

verb

  1. chiefly intransitivechiefly passive voice

    To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.

  2. transitive

    To bend or move (something) out of a given plane or direction, often the horizontal or vertical.

  3. intransitive

    To slope.

noun

  1. A slope.

  2. A portal of a subway tunnel.

Word at a Glance

Difficulty
C1 · Advanced (estimated)
Frequency
Uncommon
Typical Use
Primarily written

Word Aura™

How this word commonly comes across.

Aura for this meaning

This meaning: To tend to do or believe something, or move or be moved in a certain direction, away from a point of view, attitude, etc.

Used this way, incline 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 incline

  • “She inclined her head to the student.”verb
  • “She inclines to the view that people should be allowed to expres their religious beliefs.”verb

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Common Patterns and Combinations

How this word naturally appears with others.

slight inclinerather incline

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Word Family

Related forms, grouped by how they connect.

Inflected forms

Grammatical variations of the same word.

  • inclinedadjectiveInflected form

    Having a preference, disposition, or tendency.

Word family

Words built from the same root.

  • inclinationnounDerived noun · specialist

    An attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others.

Compound terms

Established multiword terms.

  • inclined planenounCompound term

    A simple machine for elevating objects.

  • inclined faultnounCompound term

    A geological fault in which one side is above the other.

  • incline bench pressnounCompound term

    A bench press performed on an inclined bench.

More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin

Synonyms

Sense: to tend to do or believe something

sloperun

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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.