prepossession
- noun
- /ˌprɛpəˈzɛʃən/
:
prejuicio
- Although borderline texts may have a limited influence on the ethical perspectives of readers, those provoking strong critical reactions offer insight into the particular ideological prepossession (or misprision) of a given audience.
Examples
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Such a narrative must accommodate, to a degree not required in purely imaginary texts, the ethical prepossessions of the audience, even though the ethical status of a real person's actions is not a matter of historical fact and therefore not logically subject to objections of accuracy.
Academic text (2016) -
Its inherited labels, prejudices, and prepossessions are so entrenched that it proves very difficult to conduct insightful discourse in terms outside the constructed system.
Academic text (2010) -
They are carried along by prepossessions picked up in childhood; they conform with the practices and prescriptions of the society in which they find themselves.
Academic text (1991) -
The fairest observers misconstrue all motives to action, where any received prepossession has found a hypothesis (703).
Academic text (2018) -
In doing so, the novel radically undermines the status of interpretation, calling into question the "fairest observers'" ability to interpret without "prepossession" and criticizing the presumption that empirical signs will supply certain knowledge.
Academic text (2018) -
In 1899, in his essay "Laughter," Bergson urged artists to seek a "purity of vision" that would "abandon all prepossessions" in order to "recapture a fresh and primitive impression."
Academic text (2015) -
She realized that her prepossession against the new student was unfounded after getting to know him better.
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The manager addressed the team's prepossession about the new policy, encouraging them to keep an open mind.
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His strong prepossession about the topic influenced his arguments during the debate.
Synonyms
180
4.8
An unfair belief about a person or group formed without good reason
19
6.8
An opinion you form before you have enough facts that makes you judge unfairly
12
5.6
An opinion you form before you have enough facts
9
7.1
A tendency to think or behave in a certain way because of past experiences
3
4.3
An opinion you make before you know the facts
2
7.1
An opinion made before you know all the facts
1
5.3
An opinion you form before you know enough facts
A strong opinion made before knowing all the facts
An idea you have before you know or see something
Antonyms
How Biased
Surface Forms
Morphology
prepossession = possession (opaque) = pre + possession
Although formed from the productive prefix 'pre-' and the word 'possession', the sense 'preconceived opinion' is not derivable from the ordinary sense of 'possession' (ownership) for most learners.
Etymology
The word prepossession breaks into pre- 'before' and possess 'to have'. It means 'having' an opinion before you know the facts, so a prepossession is an opinion you hold in advance and that can make you biased.