as in preferring
to show partiality toward
I'm leaning toward sausage on our pizza tonight—we got pepperoni the last three times
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for leaning (toward or towards)
Verb
-
Nok remains hopeful, preferring not to give much weight to politics.—
Salma Arafa,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026 -
Its members resist transparency about their decision making, preferring discretion and control.—
Sven van Mourik,
The Dial,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
And the robot companies’ success hinges in part on people liking the robots.—
Rachyl Jones,
semafor.com,
1 Apr. 2026
-
Yet somehow, in spite of themselves, everyone kind of winds up liking him.—
Sara Holdren,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
From the outset, there was internal debate over whether OpenAI was the right partner, with former Apple AI chief John Giannandrea questioning the startup’s staying power and favoring a Google deal.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
27 Mar. 2026
-
Following the four competitions, some participants criticized the process for such things as unclear requests for proposals, poor management and bias favoring city employee teams.—
Jan Goldsmith,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Josh gets to sit back, relax and focus on being a dad while enjoying the fleeting moments of high school ball before Michaela heads to college.—
Charles Baggarly
April 2,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
2 Apr. 2026
-
These are the public spaces that guests mill about in—sipping a berry cooler at the long bar, enjoying a glass of malbec and a read by the stove, or playing monopoly at the communal table.—
Condé Nast,
Condé Nast Traveler,
2 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Leaning (toward or towards).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/leaning%20%28toward%20or%20towards%29. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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