Meaning & use
innately
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Meanings
adverbnot comparable
In a way that you are born with, not learned.
Grammar: Goes before an adjective or verb: innately curious.
Patterns
- innately good
- innately able
Babies are innately curious about faces.
She was innately musical and played by ear.
Humans are innately social creatures.
adverbnot comparable
By nature, as a basic part of something's character.
Grammar: Often used about qualities: innately gentle.
The dog is innately gentle with children.
He seemed innately kind.
Some animals are innately wary of fire.
Common combinations
- innately good
- Many believe people are innately good.
- innately curious
- Toddlers are innately curious.
- innately talented
- She was innately talented at drawing.
- innately human
- Storytelling is innately human.
- know innately
- Birds know innately how to build nests.
Synonyms and how they differ
- naturally
- Naturally is more common and can also mean of course, while innately is only about being born with something.
- inherently
- Inherently describes qualities that are part of the thing itself, not only living things.
- instinctively
- Instinctively describes actions done without thinking, while innately describes qualities.
- intrinsically
- Intrinsically is more formal and refers to the essential nature of something.
Opposites
Word family
- innate adjective
- present from birth
- innateness noun
- the quality of being innate
- innatism noun
- the idea that some knowledge is inborn
Commonly confused: innately or inane?
innately vs inane
Inane means silly or empty, and is not related to being born with a quality.
Practice
Many linguists argue that children are ___ able to learn language.
Choose one answer.
Innately means from birth, which fits the view that language ability is inborn. The other adverbs do not express inborn ability.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “innately”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.