DISPOSITION

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does disposition mean? 

• DISPOSITION (noun)
  The noun DISPOSITION has 4 senses:

1. your usual mood

2. the act or means of getting rid of something

3. an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

4. a natural or acquired habit or characteristic tendency in a person or thing

  Familiarity information: DISPOSITION used as a noun is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISPOSITION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Your usual mood

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

disposition; temperament

Context example:

he has a happy disposition

Hypernyms ("disposition" is a kind of...):

nature (the complex of emotional and intellectual attributes that determine a person's characteristic actions and reactions)

Meronyms (parts of "disposition"):

cheer; cheerfulness; sunniness; sunshine (the quality of being cheerful and dispelling gloom)

uncheerfulness (not conducive to cheer or good spirits)

Attribute:

willing (disposed or inclined toward)

unwilling (not disposed or inclined toward)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disposition"):

ill nature (a disagreeable, irritable, or malevolent disposition)

calm; calmness; composure; equanimity (steadiness of mind under stress)

disagreeableness (an ill-tempered and offensive disposition)

willingness (cheerful compliance)

involuntariness; unwillingness (the trait of being unwilling)

friendliness (a friendly disposition)

unsociability; unsociableness (an unsociable disposition; avoiding friendship or companionship)

unfriendliness (an unfriendly disposition)

discomposure (a temperament that is perturbed and lacking in composure)

optimism (a general disposition to expect the best in all things)

pessimism (a general disposition to look on the dark side and to expect the worst in all things)

epicurism (the disposition and habits of an epicure)

gourmandism (the disposition and habits of a gourmand)

good nature (a cheerful, obliging disposition)

restrictiveness; unpermissiveness (a lack of permissiveness or indulgence and a tendency to confine behavior within certain specified limits)

permissiveness; tolerance (a disposition to allow freedom of choice and behavior)

perfectionism (a disposition to feel that anything less than perfect is unacceptable)

blood (temperament or disposition)

moodiness (having temperamental and changeable moods)

esprit de corps; morale; team spirit (the spirit of a group that makes the members want the group to succeed)

nervousness (a sensitive or highly strung temperament)

heart; spirit (an inclination or tendency of a certain kind)

bloodiness; bloodthirstiness (a disposition to shed blood)

animalism; physicality (preoccupation with satisfaction of physical drives and appetites)

aloneness; loneliness; lonesomeness; solitariness (a disposition toward being alone)

agreeability; agreeableness (a temperamental disposition to be agreeable)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act or means of getting rid of something

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

disposal; disposition

Hypernyms ("disposition" is a kind of...):

act; deed; human action; human activity (something that people do or cause to happen)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disposition"):

comb-out (the act of carefully weeding out unwanted things or people)

giving (disposing of property by voluntary transfer without receiving value in return)

abandonment (the voluntary surrender of property (or a right to property) without attempting to reclaim it or give it away)

mine disposal (the disposal of explosive mines)

sewage disposal (the disposal of sewage)

lending; loaning (disposing of money or property with the expectation that the same thing (or an equivalent) will be returned)

appointment ((law) the act of disposing of property by virtue of the power of appointment)

Derivation:

dispose (throw or cast away)

dispose (give, sell, or transfer to another)

Sense 3

Meaning:

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

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Synonyms:

disposition; inclination; tendency

Context example:

a tendency to be too strict

Hypernyms ("disposition" is a kind of...):

attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disposition"):

impartiality; nonpartisanship (an inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally)

partiality; partisanship (an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives)

disapproval; disfavor; disfavour; dislike (an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group)

favor; favour (an inclination to approve)

predisposition (an inclination beforehand to interpret statements in a particular way)

perseveration (the tendency for a memory or idea to persist or recur without any apparent stimulus for it)

literalism (a disposition to interpret statements in their literal sense)

bent; set (a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way)

leaning; proclivity; propensity (a natural inclination)

favoritism; favouritism (an inclination to favor some person or group)

sympathy; understanding (an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion)

devices (an inclination or desire; used in the plural in the phrase 'left to your own devices')

denominationalism (the tendency, in Protestantism, to separate into religious denominations or to advocate such separations)

Call (a special disposition (as if from a divine source) to pursue a particular course)

drift; movement; trend (a general tendency to change (as of opinion))

direction (a general course along which something has a tendency to develop)

Derivation:

dispose (make receptive or willing towards an action or attitude or belief)

Sense 4

Meaning:

A natural or acquired habit or characteristic tendency in a person or thing

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Context example:

a swelling with a disposition to rupture

Hypernyms ("disposition" is a kind of...):

property (a basic or essential attribute shared by all members of a class)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "disposition"):

separatism (a disposition toward schism and secession from a larger group; the principles and practices of separatists)

inclination; tendency (a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect)

proneness (being disposed to do something)

mordacity (a disposition to biting)

aptness; propensity (a disposition to behave in a certain way)

predisposition (a disposition in advance to react in a particular way)

 Context examples 

"Mother, why didn't Mr. Laurence like to have Laurie play?" asked Jo, who was of an inquiring disposition.

(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)

My mother was too much afraid of her to refuse compliance with this odd request, if she had any disposition to do so.

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)

Some of them are unmannered, rough, intractable, as well as ignorant; but others are docile, have a wish to learn, and evince a disposition that pleases me.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

Yet I felt sure that I could trust him in one point, since in that our interests jumped together, and that was in the disposition of the schooner.

(Treasure Island, by Robert Louis Stevenson)

And now, Sir Oliver, as to our dispositions: would it please you that I should order them or will you?

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

She told the story, however, with great spirit among her friends; for she had a lively, playful disposition, which delighted in anything ridiculous.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

Your person, your disposition, accomplishments, manner; they were all present to me.

(Persuasion, by Jane Austen)

In spite of his strength, however, he was of a slow, orderly, and kindly disposition, so that there was no man more beloved over the whole country side.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Something arose from difference of disposition and habit: one so easily satisfied, the other so unused to endure; but still more might be imputed to difference of circumstances.

(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)

Her situation in life, the character of her father and mother, her own person and disposition, were all equally against her.

(Northanger Abbey, by Jane Austen)