Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To preoccupy to the exclusion of other thoughts or feelings.
- transitive verb To influence beforehand against or in favor of someone or something; prejudice.
- transitive verb To impress favorably in advance.
from The Century Dictionary.
- To preoccupy, as ground or land; take previous possession of.
- To preoccupy the mind or heart of; imbue beforehand with some opinion or estimate; bias; prejudice: as, his appearance and manners strongly prepossessed them in his favor.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb To preoccupy, as ground or land; to take previous possession of.
- transitive verb To preoccupy, as the mind or heart, so as to preclude other things; hence, to bias or prejudice; to give a previous inclination to, for or against anything; esp., to induce a favorable opinion beforehand, or at the outset.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb To
preoccupy , as ground or land; to take previouspossession of. - verb To preoccupy, as the mind or heart, so as to
preclude other things; hence, tobias orprejudice ; to give a previous inclination to, for or against anything; esp., to induce a favorable opinion beforehand, or at the outset.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb cause to be preoccupied
- verb possess beforehand
- verb make a positive impression (on someone) beforehand
- verb influence (somebody's) opinion in advance
Etymologies
Sorry, no etymologies found.
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Examples
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M. Krempe was a little squat man, with a gruff voice and a repulsive countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me in favour of his pursuits.
Chapter 3 2010
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M. Krempe was a little squat man, with a gruff voice and repulsive countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me in favour of his doctrine.
Chapter 2 2010
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M. Krempe was a little squat man, with a gruff voice and repulsive countenance; the teacher, therefore, did not prepossess me in favour of his doctrine.
Krempe 2010
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I'd never felt less like venery in my life, not in that ghastly place, after the sights I'd seen, and with that obscene mob about me; even apart from that, she did not prepossess-which shows how wrong you can be.
Isabelle Estelle Bruno 2010
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The ingenuous expression of countenance, noble form, and graceful attitude of the young man, failed not to prepossess in his favor the churchmen in whose presence he stood.
The Monastery 2008
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This one, this king, he will prepossess from the git-go.
Our American King David Lozell martin 2007
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This one, this king, he will prepossess from the git-go.
Our American King David Lozell martin 2007
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This one, this king, he will prepossess from the git-go.
Our American King David Lozell martin 2007
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This one, this king, he will prepossess from the git-go.
Our American King David Lozell martin 2007
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As Miss Howe has actually detected our mother, and might possibly find some way still to acquaint her friend with her discoveries, I thought it proper to prepossess them in favour of
Clarissa Harlowe 2006
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