inclination

1 a habitual attraction to some activity or thing <her natural inclination to help people in need> Synonyms affection, affinity, aptitude, bent, bias, bone, devices, disposition, genius, habitude, impulse, leaning, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, tendency, turn Related Words favor, one-sidedness, partisanship, prejudice; endowment, faculty, flair, genius, gift, knack, talent; addiction, appetite, fancy, fondness, like, liking, preference, taste; forte, speciality, specialty; convention, custom, habit, pattern, practice (also practise), routine, trick, way, wont; eccentricity, idiosyncrasy, kink, oddity, peculiarity, quirk, singularity Near Antonyms allergy, averseness, aversion, disfavor, disinclination, dislike, disliking, disrelish, distaste; detachment, impartiality, neutrality, objectivity; apathy, disinterestedness, indifference, insouciance, nonchalance, unconcern

2 the act of positioning or an instance of being positioned at an angle <the photographer adjusted the inclination of the sitter's head> Synonyms angling, bend, cock, tilt, list, tipRelated Words turn, twist, veer; bow, dip, nod

3 the degree to which something rises up from a position level with the horizon <the inclination of the hill is gentle, so walking up it isn't too bad> Synonyms cant, diagonal, grade, gradient, slant, incline, lean, pitch, rake, slope, tilt, upgradeRelated Words ascent, bank, climb, riseNear Antonyms declension, declination, decline, declivity, descent, dip, downgrade, fall, hang, hanging, receding