ISEE/SSAT Vocabulary BuilderWordsIinnate
ISEE/SSAThard
innate
Meaning: existing in someone from birth rather than acquired
innate in a sentence
How innate is used in real sentences:
Her innate sense of rhythm made learning the drums surprisingly easy.
Scientists debated whether the toddler's curiosity about machines was innate or shaped by her engineer parents.
“She rejected the claim that artistic judgment was innate, observing that taste developed through study, error, and patient attention rather than arriving fully formed at birth.”
— from the passage Clay and Conviction
“He seemed to possess an innate instinct for matching vowels to pitch, a gift his teachers had noticed before he received formal training.”
— from the passage An Opera by Post
“Some viewers called Ortiz's eye for color innate, citing childhood drawings made before any lessons; she replied that talent could not recover decisions for which no evidence survived.”
— from the passage The Visible Scars
Synonyms for innate
Other words for innate — inborn, inherent and instinctive — carry the same meaning.
- inborn
- inherent
- instinctive
Antonyms of innate
Words that mean the opposite of innate:
- acquired
- learned
Where it comes from
From Latin innatus 'born in'
Memory hook
IN-NATE — built in from birth, part of your nature.