tendency
Americannoun
-
a natural or prevailing disposition to move, proceed, or act in some direction or toward some point, end, or result.
the tendency of falling bodies toward the earth.
-
an inclination, bent, or predisposition to something.
a tendency to talk too much.
- Synonyms:
- leaning, proclivity
-
a special and definite purpose in a novel or other literary work.
noun
-
(often foll by to) an inclination, predisposition, propensity, or leaning
she has a tendency to be frivolous
a tendency to frivolity
-
the general course, purport, or drift of something, esp a written work
-
a faction, esp one within a political party
the militant tendency
Synonym Usage
Tendency, direction, trend, drift refer to inclination or line of action or movement. A tendency is an inclination toward a certain line of action (whether or not the action follows), and is often the result of inherent qualities, nature, or habit: a tendency to procrastinate. Direction is the line along which an object or course of action moves, often toward some set point or intended goal: The change is in the direction of improvement. Trend emphasizes simultaneous movement in a certain direction of a number of factors, although the course or goal may not be clear for any single feature: Business indicators showed a downward trend. Drift emphasizes gradual development as well as direction: the drift of his argument.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of tendency
From the Medieval Latin word tendentia, dating back to 1620–30. See tend 1, -ency
Explanation
A tendency is an inclination to do something. For example, dogs have a tendency to bark at strangers and the mail man. We all have tendencies: things we're inclined to do, or like to do, or just can't help doing. Morning people have a tendency to get up early. Basketball players usually have a tendency to go right or left. Optimists have a tendency to look on the bright side of things; pessimists have the opposite tendency. Other things have tendencies too, like how the stock market tends to go up and down.
Vocabulary lists containing tendency
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Coraline
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Psychiatrists described him as neurotic, with a tendency to ruminate and worry, and said he had developed a "rigid sense of right and wrong".
From BBC ● Jul. 13, 2026
And new research from Daron Acemoglu, David Autor, Keelan Beirne and Andrew Scott indicates that there is a historical tendency for economies to offset a scarcity of younger workers with efficiency gains.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 13, 2026
Retail investors’ increasingly active approach to trading the markets could create more of a buffer for equity prices, Rubner said, given their tendency to swoop in and buy on weakness.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 1, 2026
"Psychoanalysts refer to the tendency in the mind to recreate familiar relational patterns, even when these are poorly adapted," says Stänicke.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026
Given Nan’s tendency to move us at the first sign of trouble, I didn’t want to tell her anything was wrong, but that conversation with Abby kept replaying in my head.
From "Hope Springs" by Jaime Berry
The 29-year-old’s natural tendencies are a great match for grass, though she exited in the first round here in each of the last four years.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2026
Swift built her reputation as an ultra-relatable pop star, seemingly down-to-earth with her regular girl fashion sensibilities, boy troubles and cat-lady tendencies.
From Salon ● Jul. 8, 2026
If England have a squad primed to exploit the natural tendencies of better sides, then the latter rounds of this World Cup should produce more impressive knockout performances than during the Southgate era.
From BBC ● Jun. 24, 2026
This concern has led the Electronic Privacy Information Center to draft legislation around chatbot safety for teenagers, a population particularly vulnerable to the sycophantic tendencies of these tools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
He refused to accept that Ernest might have participated in Strauss’s campaign against him or engaged in any of the rumormongering about his Communist tendencies that periodically swept the Berkeley campus.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
