Merriam-Webster's Word Central

November 20, 2012

inherent (adjective): \in-HEER-unt\
What does it mean?: : belonging to or being a part of the nature of a person or thing
How do you use it?: What she lacked in inherent basketball skill, Alicia made up for by practicing daily.
Are you a word wiz?: Our writers have been practicing how to use "inherent" in a sentence. Which sentence shows that one of them is a natural word wiz?

A. My sister will inherent this beautiful necklace someday.

B. That meal made me feel a little inherent to my stomach.

C. We've been waiting inherent for you all afternoon.

D. Everybody in the twins' family seems to have an inherent love of music.

If you picked D, you must have some inherent word skills! Sentence D is the only one that uses "inherent" as an adjective that describes something that is part of the nature of a person or thing. Sentence A uses "inherent" as a verb--the writer probably meant to use the word "inherit." Although sentence B uses "inherent" as an adjective, it doesn't correctly reflect the meaning of the word. Sentence C uses "inherent" to describe the verb "waiting," which means it's being used as an adverb instead of as an adjective.