🧲 To be attracted 🌌 To move closer

to gravitate

39 5.5

To feel a natural pull toward a person, place, or thing

verb
/ˈɡrævɪˌteɪt/

: acercarse a

So people naturally gravitate toward those kinds of beliefs.
tend to gravitate
naturally gravitate
students gravitate

But LGBT people tend to gravitate more towards the arts.

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Examples

I left prose behind and gravitated in the direction of poetry.

Johnny Firecloud (1975)
They seem to gravitate towards me.

Vamp (1986)
Women seem to gravitate towards not eating red meat.

Dr. Josh Axe
When asked to create project teams, students often gravitate to their friends.

Academic text (2017)
In life, we tend to gravitate towards what we know.

Matthew Hussey
But LGBT people tend to gravitate more towards the arts.

Triggernometry
Left to their own devices, elementary students will gravitate toward one another, interacting around a common purpose.

Academic text (2012)
A Catholic during the years of his first marriage, Proctor gravitated away from that faith.

Academic text (1999)
Bakhtin argues that the word never gravitates toward a single consciousness or a single voice.

Academic text (1991)
Students often gravitate towards subjects that interest them the most.

How Attracted

to flock to

43 3.4

to gravitate

39 5.5

to tend

∞ 1.9

to lean

205 3.7

Surface Forms

gravitate infinitive

gravitated past

gravitated past participle

gravitating present participle

gravitates third person singular

Morphology

gravitate = gravity (semi-transparent) = grav + ate

The figurative 'being drawn to' sense is a metaphorical extension of physical attraction and is predictable but requires pragmatic inference.

Etymology

Gravitate also uses the idea of gravity as a memory hook: since gravis means 'heavy', think of being 'pulled' toward something you like. So when people say you gravitate to a city or a job, they mean you are naturally 'pulled' there by interest or attraction.