Word.ws English Dictionary

bent

UK/bɛnt/

bent is the simple past and past participle of bend.

Adjective

bent (comparative benter or more bent, superlative bentest or most bent)

  1. Folded or dented out of its usual shape.
    Synonyms:
    crooked
  2. (UK, colloquial) Corrupt, dishonest.
    • To say LAPD has a history of protecting bent cops and punishing honest ones is an insult to the annual drumbeat of new scandals.2026 August 4, Rob Beschizza, “16 felony charges for LAPD officer who recorded colleagues making racist, sexist and homophobic remarks”, in BoingBoing, retrieved 04 Aug 2026
    Synonyms:
    crooked
  3. (UK, colloquial, derogatory) Homosexual.
    • Asked bluntly by Julie Webb of the NME whether he was “bent” in December 1974, Freddie answered evasively: “You're a crafty cow. […]”2019 January 22, Joe Sommerlad, “The reasons why Bohemian Rhapsody faced such a massive backlash”, in The Independent
  4. (with-on) Determined or insistent; inclined, set.
    • He was bent on going to Texas, but not even he could say why.
    • They were bent on mischief.
    Synonyms:
    hell-bent
  5. Annoyed; out of sorts; having a bee in one's bonnet.
    • Near-synonym: butthurt
    • She was bent about "certain kinds of people" having civil rights; she wanted to roll those back.
    Synonyms:
    butthurt
  6. (Of a person) leading a life of crime.
  7. (slang) Inaccurately aimed.
    • That shot was so bent it left the pitch.
  8. (US, colloquial) Suffering from the bends.
  9. (slang) High from both marijuana and alcohol.
    • Man, I am so bent right now!

Noun (1)

bent (plural bents)

  1. An inclination or talent.
    • He had a natural bent for painting.
    • the top of one's bent
    Synonyms:
    disposition
  2. A predisposition to act or react in a particular way.
    • His mind was of a technical bent.
  3. The state of being curved, crooked, or inclined from a straight line; flexure; curvity.
    • the bent of a bow
    • the force they have in the discharge , according to several bents1648, John Wilkins, Mathematicall Magick. Or, The Wonders that may be Performed by Mechanicall Geometry. […], London: […] M[iles] F[lesher] for Sa[muel] Gellibrand […], →OCLC
  4. A declivity or slope, as of a hill.
    • Beneath the lowering brow, and on a bent, / The temple stood of Mars armipotent1700, [John] Dryden, “Palamon and Arcite”, in Fables Ancient and Modern; […], London: […] Jacob Tonson, […], →OCLC
  5. Particular direction or tendency; flexion; course.
    • bents and turns of the mattera. 1705, John Locke, “Of the Conduct of the Understanding”, in Posthumous Works of Mr. John Locke: […], London: […] A[wnsham] and J[ohn] Churchill, […], published 1706, →OCLC
  6. Such a subunit as a component of a barn's framing, joined to other bents by girts and summer beams.
  7. Such a subunit as a reinforcement to, or integral part of, a bridge's framing.
  8. Tension; force of acting; energy; impetus.
    • the full bent and stress of the soul1707, John Norris, Practical Discourses Upon the Beatitudes of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.

Noun (2)

bent (countable and uncountable, plural bents)

  1. Any of various stiff or reedy grasses.
    • His spear a bent, both stiff and strong.1627, Michael Drayton, Nymphidia, published 1810, page 124
    • Gunga Dass gave me a double handful of dried bents which I thrust down the mouth of the lair to the right of his, and followed myself, feet foremost [...].1888, Rudyard Kipling, “The Strange Ride of Morrowbie Jukes”, in The Phantom ’Rickshaw and Other Tales, Folio Society, published 2005, page 121
  2. Bentgrass (Agrostis spp.).
  3. A grassy area, grassland.
    • Bowmen bickered upon the bent.c. 1500, The Ballad of Chevy Chase
  4. Old dried stalks of grasses.

Meaning of bend

Verb

bend (third-person singular simple present bends, present participle bending, simple past and past participle bent or (archaic) bended)

  1. (transitive) To cause (something) to change its shape into a curve, by physical force, chemical action, or any other means.
    • If you bend the pipe too far, it will break.
    Synonyms:
    flex
  2. (intransitive) To become curved.
    • Look at the trees bending in the wind.
    Synonyms:
    flex
  3. (transitive) To cause to change direction.
    • Bend thine ear to supplication.1667, John Milton, “Book XI”, in Paradise Lost. […], London: […] [Samuel Simmons], and are to be sold by Peter Parker […]; [a]nd by Robert Boulter […]; [a]nd Matthias Walker, […], →OCLC; republished...
  4. (intransitive) To change direction.
    • The road bends to the right.
  5. (intransitive) To be inclined; to direct itself.
    • to whom our vows and wishes bend1634, John Milton, “Arcades”, in Poems of Mr. John Milton, […], London: […] Ruth Raworth for Humphrey Mosely, […], published 1646, →OCLC
  6. (intransitive, usually) To stoop.
    • He bent down to pick up the pieces.

See all 32 meanings of bend

Proper noun capitalized: Bent

Bent (plural Bents)

  1. A surname

Synonyms of bent

3 more synonymsFewer synonyms

Forms of bent

Adjective
comparativebenter
comparativemore bent
superlativebentest
superlativemost bent
Noun
pluralbents
Proper noun
pluralBents

Origin of bent

From Middle English bent-, preterite stem (as in bente, benten, etc.), and Middle English bent, ibent, ybent, past participle forms of Middle English benden (“to bend”). Equivalent to bend + -t.

From Middle English bent, benet, from Old English *beonot (attested only in place-names and personal names), from Proto-West Germanic *binut (“reed, rush”), of uncertain origin.

Words formed from bent

Phrases with bent

14 more phrasesFewer phrases

Words that rhyme with bent

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about bent

What does bent mean?
Bent means folded or dented out of its usual shape.
What is bent the simple past and past participle of?
Bent is the simple past and past participle of bend.
What part of speech is bent?
Bent can be an adjective, a noun or a proper noun.
How do you pronounce bent?
Bent is pronounced /bɛnt/ (UK).

Words near bent in the dictionary

  1. Bensonian
  2. Benstead
  3. benstonite
  4. bensulide
  5. Bensville
  6. bent
  7. bent as a butcher's hook
  8. bent as a nine-bob note
  9. bent as a two bob
  10. bent car
  11. bent cars

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: bent (page history and authors); Bent (page history and authors); bend (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-bent.ogg.

Cite this entry: “bent.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bent. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.