tendency

noun ten·den·cy \ ˈten-dən(t)-sē \

|Updated on: 17 Jun 2018

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Examples: tendency in a Sentence

Definition of tendency

plural tendencies

1 a : a proneness to a particular kind of thought or action

b : direction or approach toward a place, object, effect, or limit

2 a : the purposeful trend of something written or said : aim

b : deliberate but indirect advocacy

See tendency defined for English-language learners

See tendency defined for kids

Examples of tendency in a Sentence

The economy has shown a general tendency toward inflation.
a tendency to drop things

Recent Examples of tendency from the Web

Regardless of who plays, FC Cincinnati seems likely to get a rugged match from Bethlehem, as has been the recent tendency when the clubs meet.

— patrick brennan, Cincinnati.com, "Bethlehem Steel FC presents a new challenge to FC Cincinnati," 13 June 2018
Nevertheless, the message from this hunky-dory Finals is clear: Start bracing now for another year of the Warriors’ maddening tendencies.

— ben golliver, SI.com, "Warriors' Greatness May Annoy Some but They Aren't Going Anywhere," 9 June 2018
That points to the inherent conflict between the entertainment businesses’ prevailing tendency to produce endless iterations of a successful franchise, and the restraint required to actually tell a good story.

— david z. morris, Fortune, "Game of Thrones," 9 June 2018
Loew also has the unfortunate tendency to find himself in the headlines for other reasons.

— ciaran fahey, chicagotribune.com, "World Cup Countdown: defending champions Germany aim for historic repeat," 2 June 2018
Unfortunately, people have the tendency to want to dominate one another, but fortunately, there are people who want to build other women up.

— diana pearl, PEOPLE.com, "Venus Williams Doesn't Want to 'Label' Herself a Feminist, But Admires the 'Power' of Women," 9 May 2018
Also, aggression was again unrelated to the tendency to speak up, as was empathy, self-esteem, gender, occupation.

— daisy grewal, Scientific American, "Who Speaks Up in the Face of Uncivil Behavior?," 8 May 2018
Oh, the tendency to fall in love with the wrong person, maybe, at times?

— lily janiak, San Francisco Chronicle, "As ‘Angels’ spins forward, original Harper looks back," 13 Apr. 2018
Having my body judged over the span of the 4 teen-to-woman years has really shown me the human tendency to label and make uneducated judgment.

— victoria rodriguez, Seventeen, "Bella Hadid Savagely Claps Back at Troll Who Accuses Her of Having Plastic Surgery," 3 Apr. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'tendency.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of tendency

Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendent-, tendens, present participle of tendere

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1628

in the meaning defined at sense 1b

See Words from the same year

tendency Synonyms

Synonyms

affection, affinity, aptitude, bent, bias, bone, devices, disposition, genius, habitude, impulse, inclination, leaning, partiality, penchant, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, turn;

Near Antonyms

allergy, averseness, aversion, disfavor, disinclination, dislike, disliking, disrelish, distaste;

detachment, impartiality, neutrality, objectivity;

apathy, disinterestedness, indifference, insouciance, nonchalance, unconcern;

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;

Synonym Discussion of tendency

tendency, trend, drift, tenor, current mean movement in a particular direction. tendency implies an inclination sometimes amounting to an impelling force.

- a general tendency toward inflation

trend applies to the general direction maintained by a winding or irregular course.

- the long-term trend of the stock market is upward

drift may apply to a tendency determined by external forces

- the drift of the population away from large cities

or it may apply to an underlying or obscure trend of meaning or discourse.

- got the drift of her argument

tenor stresses a clearly perceptible direction and a continuous, undeviating course.

- the tenor of the times

current implies a clearly defined but not necessarily unalterable course.

- an encounter that changed the current of my life

TENDENCY Defined for English Language Learners

tendency

noun

Definition of tendency for English Language Learners

: a quality that makes something likely to happen or that makes someone likely to think or behave in a particular way
: a way of behaving, proceeding, etc., that is developing and becoming more common