aptitude
Americannoun
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capability; ability; innate or acquired capacity for something; talent.
She has a special aptitude for mathematics.
- Synonyms:
- bent, propensity, proclivity, predisposition, faculty, gift
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readiness or quickness in learning; intelligence.
He was placed in honors classes because of his general aptitude.
- Synonyms:
- acumen
-
the state or quality of being apt; special fitness.
noun
-
inherent or acquired ability
-
ease in learning or understanding; intelligence
-
the condition or quality of being apt
Other Word Forms
- aptitudinal adjective
- aptitudinally adverb
- preaptitude noun
Etymology
Origin of aptitude
First recorded in 1400–50; from Late Latin aptitūdō; apt, -i-, -tude
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
My son, a college librarian, has seen that phenomenon as well as a general erosion of research skills and decision-making aptitude among some students.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 14, 2026
At a basic level, it resembles a graduate programme for young female drivers who have shown an aptitude in junior levels of karting.
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
His aptitude for garnering media attention also brought him criticism over the course of his career from allies and detractors alike.
From Salon • Feb. 17, 2026
The continent’s economic power, Germany, is building a database of young people, cataloging their fitness and aptitude to help it pick whom to draft should the country be attacked.
From The Wall Street Journal • Nov. 27, 2025
“A flexible personality,” she says, “would probably have aptitude for more than one faction, don’t you agree, Ms. Prior?”
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
