Link Centre Dictionary

propensity

pro·pen·sity

UK/pɹəˈpɛnsɪti/ US/prʌˈpɛnsɪti/ rare

noun

1.

an inclination to do something

  • “he felt leanings toward frivolity”
Synonyms
2.

a natural inclination

  • “he has a proclivity for exaggeration”
Synonyms
3.

a disposition to behave in a certain way

  • “the aptness of iron to rust”
  • “the propensity of disease to spread”
Synonyms

Origin

Learned borrowing from New Latin prōpensitās. By surface analysis, propense (“inclined, disposed”) + -ity.

Related words

Word family

Broader terms

WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.