propensity
Pronunciation
  • IPA: /pɹəˈpɛnsɪti/
Noun

propensity

  1. An inclination, disposition, tendency, preference, or attraction.
    He has a propensity for lengthy discussions of certain favorite topics.
    • 1831, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Last Chapter”, in Romance and Reality. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn and Richard Bentley, […], →OCLC ↗, page 326 ↗:
      I must own they do dearly delight in a judgment; and sorry am I that I cannot gratify this laudable propensity by specifying some peculiar evil incurred by Mr. Delawarr's ambition, or Lady Etheringhame's vanity.
    • 1902, William James, “Lecture I”, in The Varieties of Religious Experience: A Study in Human Nature […] , New York, N.Y.; London: Longmans, Green, and Co. […], →OCLC ↗:
      To the psychologist the religious propensities of man must be at least as interesting as any other of the facts pertaining to his mental constitution. It would seem, therefore, that, as a psychologist, the natural thing for me would be to invite you to a descriptive survey of those religious propensities.
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