partiality

American  

[pahr-shee-al-i-tee, pahr-shal-] / ˌpɑr ʃiˈæl ɪ ti, pɑrˈʃæl- /

noun

• partialities
  plural

1. the state or character of being partial.

2. a favorable bias or prejudice.

   the partiality of parents for their own children.

   Synonyms:

   favoritism

3. a special fondness, preference, or liking (usually followed by to orfor ).

   a partiality for country living.

   Synonyms:

   predilection, bent, inclination, leaning

   Antonyms:

   dislike

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partiality British  

/ ˌpɑːʃɪˈælɪtɪ /

noun

1. favourable prejudice or bias

2. (usually foll by for) liking or fondness

3. the state or condition of being partial

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nonpartiality
  noun
• overpartiality
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• partialities
  plural

Etymology

Origin of partiality

1375–1425; late Middle English parcialite < Medieval Latin partiālitās. See partial, -ity

Explanation

Partiality is the habit of favoring something — taking its part. If your parents always seem to let your little sister off the hook while you get grounded, you could accuse them of partiality in their parenting. They favor your sister over you. Partiality is like bias. It means that your favorite person, type of food, or way of operating tends to get priority when you’re making up your mind. A synonym for partiality is favoritism. For this reason, anyone who’s not directly benefiting from your partiality will not appreciate it. It’s unfair!

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

partiality partialities

"There is no evidence of bad faith, malice, corruption, fraud, partiality, or any want of integrity on the part of Referee Mark Lyson," the commission added.

From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026

For that reason, they are expected to avoid public statements displaying partiality because such statements undermine public trust in the legal system.

From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2025

Having Cannon presiding over this case “might create an appearance of partiality in the mind of the public,” Routh’s attorney said, according to CNN.

From Slate ● Dec. 21, 2024

“The I.R.S. is not aware of any reports of improper bias or partiality in the conduct of an officeholder’s examination in the more than 40-year history of the mandatory procedures,” it said.

From New York Times ● Dec. 21, 2022

All John Reed’s violent tyrannies, all his sisters’ proud indifference, all his mother’s aversion, all the servants’ partiality, turned up in my disturbed mind like a dark deposit in a turbid well.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Out of all the bizarre vampire partialities presented as humdrum on "What We Do In the Shadows," the Staten Island housemates' unconventional, looser approach to intimacy is distinctive if not singular.

From Salon ● Jul. 20, 2023

They inevitably involve "animosities, partialities, influence and interest."

From Time Magazine Archive

Considering natural partialities, he has shown a discretion of which we are oftener reminded by missing than by meeting it.

From The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 20, No. 121, November, 1867 by Various

They are in general as blind and as pertinacious in their partialities as in their dislikes; seldom bestowing much judgment in either, but acting according to the impulses of their warm passions and flexibility.

From Curiosities of Medical Experience by J. G. (John Gideon) Millingen

The character of Sidney is described in terms of warm appreciation, though the partialities of the author have not clouded the fairness of his judgment.

From Harper's New Monthly Magazine, Vol III, No 13, 1851 by Various