noun ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   An inclination, disposition, tendency, preference, or attraction. countable, uncountable

   "He has a propensity for lengthy discussions of certain favorite topics."

2. 2
   a disposition to behave in a certain way wordnet
3. 3
   a natural inclination wordnet
4. 4
   an inclination to do something wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms

aptnessleaningproclivityproclivitya thing foraffection

Example

More examples

"Tom had a propensity for looking the other way when spoken to."

Etymology

Learned borrowing from New Latin prōpensitās. By surface analysis, propense (“inclined, disposed”) + -ity.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.