penchant
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of penchant
1665–75; < French, noun use of present participle of pencher to incline, lean < Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, derivative of Latin pendēre to hang
Explanation
A penchant is a strong preference or tendency. If you have a penchant for pizza, you either eat it daily or wish you did. Penchant borrows from French, in which penchant literally means inclined. It goes back to the Latin pendere, for hanging, which is also the source of pendant. In both French and English, speakers have long used the idea of inclination metaphorically: a hillside can be inclined in one direction or another, and so can a person's thoughts. But in English, penchant is only for desires.
Vocabulary lists containing penchant
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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.
Marsden had a "penchant for different architectural styles", Richardson said, where he had done something similar at a property in Merseyside coined "the Brush Castle".
From BBC • Apr. 7, 2026
Despite my penchant for outer space films and my affinity for Gosling’s work, the millennial cringe of it all left a bitter taste in my mouth.
From Salon • Mar. 21, 2026
Like Koy, who also has seven major specials, Iglesias went through a lot of metamorphosis on stage prior to finding his calling as a gregarious, fun-loving comedian with a penchant for doing cartoon-ish voices.
From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 5, 2026
Musk, who has acknowledged his penchant for optimism, doesn’t hit milestones on time.
From Barron's • Feb. 18, 2026
I wanted to have meaningful conversations with my grandma and aunts that captured my sassy humor and penchant for sarcasm, but I couldn't communicate much beyond the usual Farsi phrases: "Delam yekzareh shodeh."
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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.
