Word of the Day

: March 23, 2016

propensity

noun pruh-PENN-suh-tee

What It Means

: an often intense natural inclination or preference

propensity in Context

His propensity to speak his mind makes some of his colleagues wary.

"In fact, Welch's propensity for forming partnerships along with her enthusiasm for the alliance's mission is what caught the attention of the search committee, says Anthony Crutcher, immediate past president of the alliance board." — Susan Pierce, The Chattanooga Times Free-Press, 22 Feb. 2016

Did You Know?

When it comes to synonyms of propensity, the letter "p" predominates. Proclivity, preference, penchant, and predilection all share with propensity the essential meaning of "a strong instinct or liking." Not every word that is similar in meaning to propensity begins with "p," however. Propensity comes from Latin propensus, the past participle of propendēre, a verb meaning "to incline" or "to hang forward or down." Thus leaning and inclination are as good synonyms of propensity as any of those "p"-words.