Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Exactly suitable; appropriate: an apt reply.
- adj. Having a natural tendency; inclined: She is apt to take offense easily. See Usage Notes at liable, likely.
- adj. Quick to learn or understand: an apt student.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- Possessing the qualities necessary or proper for a certain purpose or end; fit; suited; adapted; suitable.
- Suited to its purpose; apposite; pertinent; appropriate; becoming: as, an apt metaphor.
- Having a tendency; naturally susceptible; liable; likely: as, wheat on moist land is apt to blast or be winter-killed.
- Inclined; predisposed; disposed customarily; prone; ready: as, one who is too apt to slander others.
- Ready; prompt; quick; unusually intelligent; expert; facile: as, a pupil apt to learn; an apt wit.
- Prepared; ready; willing.
- Capable of easy explanation; natural; credible.
- Synonyms Apt, Fit. “The words apt and fit might be thought to differ only in this, that the former is of Latin derivation; but apt has an active sense, and fit a passive sense,—a distinction clearly shown by Shakspere, when the poisoner in the play in Hamlet says, ‘hands apt, drugs fit,’ and by Wordsworth: ‘Our hearts more apt to sympathize with heaven, our souls more fit for future glory.’” H. Reed, Eng. Lit., p. 106. Meet, fitting, germane, appropriate.3 and . Apt, Likely, Liable, Subject, prone. Apt, when used in this sense of persons, indicates physical tendency or inward inclination: as, apt to catch cold; apt to neglect work; when used of things, it similarly indicates natural tendency: as, apt to mold. Likely may suggest the same idea: as, he is likely to do it; it is likely to rust; or it may express mere external probability or chance: as, he is likely to come at any moment. Liable in this connection is properly used only of exposure to evil, being practically equivalent to exposed, or exposed to the danger of: as, liable to accident; liable to be hurt, that is, exposed to the danger of being hurt; liable to censure: in such use it does not express probability or tendency, but merely the possibility of exposure or risk. Subject expresses what is likely to happen to a person or thing, and occasionally does happen. Liable to disease and subject to disease thus convey different ideas. The things to which we are liable are determined more by accident or circumstance; the things to which we are subject are determined by nature and constitution. Apt to be suddenly ill; liable, but not likely, to die before the physician arrives; subject to attacks of epilepsy.
- Clever, bright, dexterous.
- To prepare for a definite service; fit; suit for anticipated circumstances; adapt.
Wiktionary
- adj. Suitable; appropriate; fit or fitted; suited.
- adj. of persons or things Having a habitual tendency; habitually liable or likely; disposed towards.
- adj. Ready; especially fitted or qualified (to do something); quick to learn; prompt; expert; as, a pupil apt to learn; an apt scholar.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. Fit or fitted; suited; suitable; appropriate.
- adj. Having an habitual tendency; habitually liable or likely; -- used of things.
- adj. Inclined; disposed customarily; given; ready; -- used of persons.
- adj. Ready; especially fitted or qualified (to do something); quick to learn; prompt; expert.
- v. obsolete To fit; to suit; to adapt.
WordNet 3.0
- adj. (usually followed by `to') naturally disposed toward
- adj. being of striking appropriateness and pertinence
- adj. at risk of or subject to experiencing something usually unpleasant
- adj. mentally quick and resourceful
Etymologies
- From French apte, from Latin aptus, from obsolete apere ("to fasten, to join, to fit"), akin to apisci ("to reach, attain"); compare with Greek ἅπτειν (haptīn, "to fasten") and Sanskrit आप्त (āpta, "fit"), from आप् (āp, "to reach, attain"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English, from Old French apte, from Latin aptus, past participle of apere, to fasten. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“i, film geek, proclaim the title apt and brilliant for this tragic tale.”
“And looking at the older posts on Ellen & Mark's blog; their apt is pretty tiny so they'll have to walk the dogs frequently.”
“Hanging out in front of the apt is nice way to meet people, too”
“How apt is the common analogy between America and Rome?”
18 Non-Fiction Essays by Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers
“Given the persistence of human nature, the quotation I posted last year will no doubt remain apt for many years to come. posted by Matthew @ 9: 55 AM”
“I called the apt complex for a few maintenance requests I've been needing to get taken care of forever, then called mom while I was waiting (hoping) they'd show up today.”
“So ... it depends on where the apt is in that colonia.”
“The less one talks the more apt is he to hear wise words.”
“When we read the brief prose of those war communiques which announce that the Island's young men have been bombing German invasion barges gathered along the northern coast of Europe, we reflect how apt is the majestic description of that beloved place which was written in poetry more than 300 years ago”
“F.R.C.O.: Mr. President, Ladies and Gentlemen: I think that perhaps of all the occasions when the principles of education were most aptly elucidated, the most apt is found in Nicholas Nickleby.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘apt’.
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3-Letter Scrabble Words Which Do Not ...
A list of 3-letter words which cannot be formed by adding a letter to a 2-letter word (see Ken Clark's word lists found at http://www.seattlescrab...
ace, act, aff, aft, apo, app, apt, auk, ava, ave, avo, azo and 225 more...
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3-letter Scrabble Words
aah, aal, aas, aba, abo, abs, aby, ace, act, add, ado, ads and 995 more...
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3 Letter Words
A list of English words that are three letters long.
ace, act, ade, ado, add, ads, age, ago, ail, air, aim, all and 397 more...
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apt
apt, rapt, inapt, leapt, aptitude, chapter, capture, rapture, velociraptor, captivate, captious, caption and 77 more...
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ChortleGiggleSnort
Significant Words- Guiding you on your path to Snazzibility
flimsy, feeble, ranting, ramble, narky, snazzy, yoghurt, bulbous, pustule, globulous, geranium, megalomaniac and 521 more...
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The Sog Collection
My big word list.
chaos, flaccid, empirical, flotsam, cacophony, grumble, assuage, awe, romance, mortality, coalesce, fortuitous and 3282 more...
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everythingecstatic's Words
cadence, frenetic, eloquence, paradigm, nocturne, elusive, effervescence, soliloquy, plethora, elision, aqueous, transcend and 166 more...
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Words I have to learn
exasperate, felony, weld, fraud, worksheet, ransom, rehearse, preliminary, offshore, parole, infamous, sieve and 436 more...
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SAT PSAT ALPHABETICAL A
abandon, abash, abate, abjure, ablution, abnegate, abominable, aboriginal, abortive, abrade, abridge, abrogate and 172 more...
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newGRE
mostly from magoosh
imbue, verge on, nonchalant, deliberate, timorous, futile, provisional, dissect, checked, tinged, alluring, visionary and 1046 more...
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GRE
Taisha GRE Bible
archaic, archetype, archipelago, architect, archive, arctic, ardor, arduous, argot, arid, armory, arrest and 289 more...
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NTDW1
template, modal, sublingual, tandem, polycentric, septuagenarian, token, irrevocable, denotive, augural, aberrant, phlebotomy and 1188 more...
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Revised GRE Wordlist_2013
Vocabulary building for my quest of GRE 2013
ephemeral, esoteric, rhetoric, censure, egregious, pittance, dupe, mulct, paucity, alacrity, maintain, laconic and 997 more...
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Words that delight me
tepid, perfunctory, trope, benign, inordinate, bewildering, ersatz, boon, delectable, apt, scuttlebutt, sequester and 398 more...
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Rilakkuma's list
The Velvetine Ruffians
gamine, waif, ruffian, villain, rake, libertine, velvetine, luminary, nom de plume, street urchin, epicurean, eventide and 256 more...
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Dain's Words
rabble, terminus, archaic, atavism, demiurge, waylay, syzygy, jocoserious, quark, entropy, cinnabar, shamble and 912 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for apt.

sonofgroucho Fab little word. Dec 16, 2007