Prone

//pɹəʊn// adj, name, verb

adj, name, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To place in a prone position, to place face down.
Adjective
  1. 1
    Lying face-down.

    "prone position"

  2. 2
    Of the hand, forearm or foot: turned facing away from the body; with the thumb inward or big toe downward.

    "The hand is in the prone position typically when using a keyboard; and the forearm is then also in the prone position; when the foot is resting on the inner side of the sole, it is in the prone position."

  3. 3
    Having a downward inclination or slope.
  4. 4
    Shooting from a position while lying down.
  5. 5
    Predisposed, liable, inclined. figuratively

    "prone to failure"

Adjective
  1. 1
    lying face downward wordnet
  2. 2
    having a tendency (to); often used in combination wordnet
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    Alternative form of Prome (“the city of Pyay”). alt-of, alternative

Synonyms

All synonyms
inclinedaccumbentacquiescentagreeablealacritousamenable

Antonyms

All antonyms
supine

Example

More examples

"The weak-willed are prone to go to the dogs; the strong-willed turn failure into success."

Etymology

From Middle English prone, proone, proon, from Latin prōnus (“turned forward, bent or inclined”), from prō (“forward”).

Related phrases

accident-proneerror-pronefault-proneflood-pronegossip-proneinjury-proneprone outprone positionprone positioningprone toprone-boneprone to

More for "prone"

SynonymsSentencesPronunciationTranslate

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciationBrowse writing guides

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.