Prepossession
noun ·Moderate ·High school level
Definitions
- 1 A preoccupation; having possession beforehand. uncountable
"I am fully sensible to the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion; a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion."
- 2 an opinion formed beforehand without adequate evidence wordnet
- 3 A preconceived opinion, or previous impression; bias, prejudice. countable
"The spontaneous intellect of man always defines the divine which it feels in ways that harmonise with its temporary intellectual prepossessions."
- 4 the condition of being prepossessed wordnet
Example
More examples"I am fully sensible to the greatness of that freedom, which I take with you on the present occasion; a liberty which seemed to me scarcely allowable, when I reflected on that distinguished and dignified station in which you stand, and the almost general prejudice and prepossession, which is so prevalent in the world against those of my complexion."
Etymology
From pre- + possession.
More for "prepossession"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.