as in tendency
a habitual attraction to some activity or thing
a penchant for sitting by the window and staring moodily off into space
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of penchant
In 1933, Jack and his wife Flossie opened the restaurant—but Jack’s penchant for gambling, horse racing, boxing, and occasional bootlegging out of the back room put the establishment on the map.
—
Hillary Richard, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 2026
The Tindalls aren't the only royal family with a penchant for black cocker spaniels.
—Helen Murphy, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
Dishes like curried chicken over basmati rice, or the award-winning shrimp dasheene with local peppers, embrace the island’s penchant for fiery aromatics, while the dasheene and coconut soup manages to be both earthy and refreshing all at once.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Apr. 2026
Chase, Harada, Ivan Hernandez (as the town Doc with all the bedside manner of Captain Von Trapp), Brad Oscar as closeted Mayor Menlove whose penchant for outfits as fanciful as any thing from Munchkinland is matched only by his tender longing for that shy town reverend (Maulik Pancholy).
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for penchant
Hillary Richard, Robb Report, 23 Apr. 2026
The Tindalls aren't the only royal family with a penchant for black cocker spaniels.
—Helen Murphy, PEOPLE, 22 Apr. 2026
Dishes like curried chicken over basmati rice, or the award-winning shrimp dasheene with local peppers, embrace the island’s penchant for fiery aromatics, while the dasheene and coconut soup manages to be both earthy and refreshing all at once.
—Condé Nast, Condé Nast Traveler, 21 Apr. 2026
Chase, Harada, Ivan Hernandez (as the town Doc with all the bedside manner of Captain Von Trapp), Brad Oscar as closeted Mayor Menlove whose penchant for outfits as fanciful as any thing from Munchkinland is matched only by his tender longing for that shy town reverend (Maulik Pancholy).
—Greg Evans, Deadline, 20 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for penchant
Recent Examples of Synonyms for penchant
Noun
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Kormákur is an Icelandic filmmaker whose breakout was the 2006 crime drama Jar City and who has a tendency to bounce around both genres and continents.—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
24 Apr. 2026
-
In 2024, Julie Aitken Schermer, a psychology professor at the University of Western Ontario in Canada, published a paper that showed drivers who modified their exhaust systems to be louder were more likely to have psychopathic and sadist tendencies.—
Harrison Mantas,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Few Democrats in the party's 2028 presidential sights have an opportunity to demonstrate political strength and party-building aptitude in swing states.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
25 Apr. 2026
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So does discipline, defensive aptitude and goaltending.—
Josh Yohe,
New York Times,
24 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The inclination is not to pay, according to Alisha Rayner, the city’s director of operations and communications.—
Mark Pazniokas,
Hartford Courant,
30 Apr. 2026
-
The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit.—
Richard Tribou,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
Noun
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Sometimes the batteries on the trackers would run low, and McGovern’s team would need to remove and recharge the devices, before surreptitiously replacing them.—
Ed Caesar,
New Yorker,
30 Apr. 2026
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In 2021, a critical vulnerability in Log4j—a logging library maintained by a handful of volunteers—exposed hundreds of millions of devices.—
Evan Johnson,
IEEE Spectrum,
30 Apr. 2026
Noun
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His early work with the Heartbreakers had an affinity with the more cutting-edge sounds of punk and new wave; the term pop punk probably comes from the New York Times critic John Rockwell’s write-up of a Petty performance at the Bottom Line in 1977.—
Jack Hamilton,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
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When Tezzus met diamond* in 2020, their affinity for music (and weed) kept them close, moving together as a unit.—
Oba Awolowo,
Pitchfork,
27 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The Russian writer Fyodor Dostoevsky had a knack for taking his characters on journeys that change them beyond recognition.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
29 Apr. 2026
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Ian does his best to make the most of his time with his son, but the single father has a knack for complicating things.—
Ryan Gajewski,
HollywoodReporter,
29 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Penchant.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/penchant. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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