1
as in tendency
an established pattern of behavior
the criminal propensities of the family extended over several generations
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in inclination
a habitual attraction to some activity or thing
a neighbor who has an unfortunate propensity for snooping
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of propensity
The lamp of experience from the beginning of time showed the propensity of chief executives to commence wars over straws to exercise absolute, unchecked, infinite power.
—
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2026
Soft skills, a propensity to learn key hard skills, genuine effort and a growth mindset can all potentially separate someone who’ll learn and adapt quickly from someone who’s completely unprepared for the job from Day 1.
—Ashton Jackson, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Rodríguez has yet to spend significant time at Triple-A, while Jones still has to ease concerns over his propensity to swing and miss.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2026
Unlike gray walls which can generate a sort of calm coziness, gray carpet has a propensity for making a room feel cold and generic—think office break room.
—Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for propensity
Bruce Fein, Baltimore Sun, 23 Mar. 2026
Soft skills, a propensity to learn key hard skills, genuine effort and a growth mindset can all potentially separate someone who’ll learn and adapt quickly from someone who’s completely unprepared for the job from Day 1.
—Ashton Jackson, CNBC, 17 Mar. 2026
Rodríguez has yet to spend significant time at Triple-A, while Jones still has to ease concerns over his propensity to swing and miss.
—Gary Phillips, New York Daily News, 10 Mar. 2026
Unlike gray walls which can generate a sort of calm coziness, gray carpet has a propensity for making a room feel cold and generic—think office break room.
—Marisa Suzanne Martin, The Spruce, 7 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for propensity
Recent Examples of Synonyms for propensity
Noun
-
When an investigation like Nancy Guthrie’s passes the two-month mark, there’s a tendency to look back and reexamine all assumptions and decisions made in the first few moments.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
3 Apr. 2026
-
New cultivars of Pyrus calleryana were bred to reduce Bradford’s tendency to split in snow or high winds.—
Campbell Vaughn,
USA Today,
3 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
2 Apr. 2026
-
The natural inclination, then, might be to try to ridicule the conspiracy believer into feeling enough shame to abandon their belief, but this often only drives them toward it.—
Mike Rothschild,
Big Think,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The council in 2024 rejected a 498-unit apartment complex nearby in Deer Canyon over similar concerns related to evacuations and the area’s proneness to blazes.—
Victoria Le,
Oc Register,
14 Jan. 2026
-
Both Max’s debut LP, Heaven & Hell, and her sophomore album, Diamonds and Dancefloors, were pushed back for release because of leaks, and Max has addressed her music’s proneness to making its way online before release in the past.—
Tomás Mier,
Rolling Stone,
19 Aug. 2025
Noun
-
Flutie played beyond his physical abilities partly because of his aptitude.—
Dan Pompei,
New York Times,
16 Mar. 2026
-
What Godoy does have a great aptitude for, however, is video games.—
Carlos Aguilar,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
During the Apollo missions, astronauts used urine collection and transfer devices, as well as plastic bags taped to the buttocks to collect feces.—
ByMary Kekatos,
ABC News,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Our bill will ban the federal government from buying and operating these devices made in countries that wish us harm.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
2 Apr. 2026
Noun
-
For those following news about the war on social media, this affinity network—all these different figures with their own little tribes—has been quickly replacing images of the war with commentary on it.—
Jay Caspian Kang,
New Yorker,
31 Mar. 2026
-
Yes, our heroine is Mary Bennet, she of the off-key singing voice and affinity for vibe-killing piano concertos, a young woman who doesn’t care that men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses and counts a day of being ignored by her family as a lucky escape from being mocked.—
Sophie Brookover,
Vulture,
31 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Propensity.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/propensity. Accessed 4 Apr. 2026.
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