prone

Likely to do something or experience something, especially something bad.

• She is prone to headaches.
• This old engine is prone to breaking down.
• Are some people more prone to mistakes when they are tired?

How to use it: be prone to something (Young children are prone to ear infections.); be prone to doing something (He is prone to forgetting names.)

Similar words: susceptible, liable, inclined

Common phrases: prone to something, prone to doing, prone to injury, prone to failure

Lying flat with your face towards the ground.

• He lay prone on the floor.
• The patient was placed in a prone position.
• She found him prone beside the bed.

How to use it: lie prone on something (He lay prone on the grass.)

Similar words: face down

Opposites: supine

Common phrases: lie prone, a prone position, prone on something