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Definition of "propensity" []

  • An innate inclination; a tendency. See Synonyms at predilection. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "propensity" in a sentence
  • "But this propensity is already here, in embryonic form."
  • "Appearing before an audience at the University of New Mexico that cheered at virtually every jibe at Obama, McCain unloaded on his Democratic rival for everything from what he called his propensity to raise taxes and desire to impose a government-run health care system to his purported waffling on issues and his "eager" participation in a "corrupt" earmark system."
  • "On page 22, we are told that the division of labor “is the necessary, though very slow and gradual, consequence of a certain propensity in human nature … the propensity to truck, barter, and exchange one thing for another.”"