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Definition of "bent" []

  • Past tense and past participle of bend1. (verb)
  • Altered from an originally straight or even condition: pieces of bent wire. (adjective)
  • Determined to take a course of action: I was bent on going to the theater. (adjective)
  • Chiefly British Corrupt; venal. (adjective)
  • A tendency, disposition, or inclination: "The natural bent of my mind was to science” ( Thomas Paine). (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "bent" in a sentence
  • ""Yes, I'm bent -- _bent_ like your name -- to speak my mind!""
  • "Nevertheless, his bent is above all realistic, if we eliminate from that label all the customary flavour of social tendency, commonplace philosophy, or gross striving for effect."
  • "Originally conceived as a bald villain bent on taking over the world, Superman was reworked by creators Jerry Siegel and Joe Schuster into an indomitable, supremely powerful super hero who had the power to bend steel in his bare hands, leap one-eighth of a mile, and with skin impenetrable by anything less than an exploding shell."