Standard Lemma guide

tendency

noun · 6 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • tĕnʹdən-sē
  • Canada, General-American, Received-Pronunciation: /ˈtɛn.dən.si/
  • General-American: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • California: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • Australian, New-Zealand: /ˈten.dən.si/
  • CMU ARPABET: T EH1 N D AH0 N S IY0 Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • Denim has a tendency to fade.
  • I have a tendency to get bored after the first half an hour of a movie.
  • There's a common tendency among first-game visitors to a casino to bet overcautiously.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

noun

Meaning 2

An organised unit or faction within a larger political organisation.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Topics: government, politics

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

noun

Meaning 3

a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the alkaline inclination of the local waters
  • fabric with a tendency to shrink

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inclination

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: disposition

Narrower terms: heterosis, hybrid vigor, buoyancy, electronegativity, negativity, stainability, desire

4

noun

Meaning 4

an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he had an inclination to give up too easily
  • a tendency to be too strict

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: inclination, disposition

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: attitude, mental attitude

Narrower terms: direction, drift, trend, movement, Call, denominationalism, devices, sympathy, understanding, favoritism, favouritism, proclivity, propensity, leaning, bent, set, literalism, perseveration, predisposition, favor, favour, disfavor, disfavour, dislike, disapproval, partiality, partisanship, impartiality, nonpartisanship

5

noun

Meaning 5

an inclination to do something

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • he felt leanings toward frivolity

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: leaning, propensity

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: inclination

6

noun

Meaning 6

a general direction in which something tends to move

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • the shoreward tendency of the current
  • the trend of the stock market

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: trend

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: direction, way

History

Etymology

From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendens, present participle of tendō.

Across languages

Translations

86 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: tendencë — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Arabic: مَيْل (mayl) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Arabic: نَزَعَة (nazaʕa) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Armenian: միտում (mitum) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Armenian: տենդենցիա (tendencʻia) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Azerbaijani: meyil — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Azerbaijani: tendensiya — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Belarusian: тэндэ́нцыя (tendéncyja) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Belarusian: схі́льнасць (sxílʹnascʹ) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Belarusian: нахі́льнасць (naxílʹnascʹ) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Bulgarian: тенде́нция (tendéncija) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Bulgarian: скло́нност (sklónnost) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Catalan: tendència — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Chinese Cantonese: 傾向 /倾向 — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Chinese: 傾向 /倾向 (zh-min-nan) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Chinese Mandarin: 趨勢 /趋势 (qūshì) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Chinese Mandarin: 傾向 /倾向 (qīngxiàng) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Czech: sklon — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Czech: tendence — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Danish: tendens — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Dutch: neiging — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Esperanto: emo — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Esperanto: inklino — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Esperanto: tendenco — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Estonian: tendents — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Finnish: taipumus — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • French: tendance — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Georgian: ტენდენცია (ṭendencia) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Georgian: მიდრეკილება (midreḳileba) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • German: Tendenz — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Greek: τάση (tási) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Greek: ροπή (ropí) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Haitian Creole: tandans — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Hebrew: נטייה \ נְטִיָּה (n'tiyá) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Hindi: प्रवृत्ति (pravŕtti) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Hungarian: irány — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Hungarian: tendencia — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Indonesian: kecenderungan — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Italian: tendenza — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Japanese: 傾向 (keikō) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Japanese: 趨勢 (sūsei) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Kazakh: нысай (nysai) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Kazakh: үрдіс (ürdıs) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Kazakh: тенденция (tendensiä) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Korean: 경향 (gyeonghyang) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Korean: 추세 (chuse) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Kyrgyz: тенденция (tendentsiya) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Latin: prōpensiō — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Latvian: tendence — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Lithuanian: tendencija — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Macedonian: тенденција (tendencija) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Malay: kecenderungan — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Malayalam: പ്രവണത (pravaṇata) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Norwegian Bokmål: tendens — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Persian: گرایش (gerâyeš) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Plautdietsch: Läne — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Polish: tendencja — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Polish: skłonność — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Portuguese: tendência — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Romanian: tendință — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Romanian: înclinație — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Russian: тенде́нция (tɛndɛ́ncija) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Russian: скло́нность (sklónnostʹ) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Serbo-Croatian: тендѐнција — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Serbo-Croatian: скло̏но̄ст — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Serbo-Croatian: tendèncija — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Serbo-Croatian: sklȍnōst — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Slovak: sklon — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Slovak: tendencia — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Slovene: tendenca — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Slovene: nagnjenje — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Spanish: tendencia — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Swedish: tendens — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Swedish: trend — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Swedish: benägenhet — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Tajik: майл (mayl) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Thai: แนวโน้ม (nɛɛo-nóom) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Tocharian B: rmamñe — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Turkish: eğilim — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Turkish: tandans — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Ukrainian: тенде́нція (tendéncija) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Ukrainian: схи́льність (sxýlʹnistʹ) — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Uzbek: tendensiya — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Uzbek: mayl — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Vietnamese: khuynh hướng — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
  • Vietnamese: xu thế — likelihood of behaving in a particular way
Real reading context

tendency in complete knowledge articles

Midrash Tadshe Literature & books · Developing · 2 uses Magnus hitch Ideas & learning · Accessible · 1 uses