propensity
Americannoun
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a natural inclination or tendency.
a propensity to drink too much.
- Synonyms:
- proclivity, penchant, disposition, leaning, bent
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Obsolete. favorable disposition or partiality.
noun
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a natural tendency or disposition
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obsolete partiality
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of propensity
Compare meaning
How does propensity compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A propensity is a natural tendency to behave in a certain way. We all have propensities — things we tend to do. Dogs have a propensity to bark, and many people have a propensity for getting annoyed by it. If you have a propensity for something, then it's something that comes naturally to you or something you just do a lot. Some people have a propensity to laugh. Other people have a propensity for making others laugh, or for being generous, or for getting angry. It's hard to change your propensities. Sometimes a propensity is a bad thing, as in a criminal with a propensity for theft or murder.
Vocabulary lists containing propensity
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Grade 11, List 4
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The Scarlet Letter
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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.
The parameter β1 was called the Marginal Propensity to Consume in Macroeconomics Principles.
From Textbooks • Nov. 29, 2017
What further increases our Horror at this enormous Propensity to heat, dry up, and cram the sick is, that it is totally opposite to what Nature herself indicates in such Circumstances.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
There is also some Pain, or at least a Sensation of Weight and Heaviness in the Head: and frequently a Propensity to rave.
From Advice to the people in general, with regard to their health by Tissot, S. A. D. (Samuel Auguste David)
The great Propensity we have in our Nature to flatter our selves, makes us easy Casuists in our own Concerns.
From An Enquiry into an Origin of Honour; and the Usefulness of Christianity in War by Mandeville, Bernard
Propensity to commerce among the people of Suse.
From An Account of Timbuctoo and Housa Territories in the Interior of Africa by Jackson, James Grey
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.
