Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
Definition: Propensity |
PropensityNoun1. An inclination to do something; "he felt leanings toward frivolity". 2. A natural inclination; "he has a proclivity for exaggeration". 3. A disposition to behave in a certain way; "the aptness of iron to rust"; "the propensity of disease to spread". Source: WordNet 1.7.1 Copyright © 2001 by Princeton University. All rights reserved. |
Date "propensity" was first used: 1570. (references) |
Synonyms: PropensitySynonyms: aptness (n), leaning (n), proclivity (n), tendency (n). (additional references) |
| Context | Synonyms within Context (source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus). |
Affections | Noun: affections, affect; character, qualities, disposition, nature, spirit, tone; temper, temperament; diathesis, idiosyncrasy; cast of mind, cast of soul, habit of mind, habit of soul, frame of mind, frame of soul; predilection, turn, natural turn of mind; bent, bias, predisposition, proneness, proclivity, propensity, propenseness, propension, propendency; vein, humor, mood, grain, mettle; sympathy; (love). |
Desire | Mind, inclination, leaning, bent, animus, partiality, penchant, predilection; propensity; willingness; liking, love, fondness, relish. |
Tendency | Noun: tendency; aptness, aptitude; proneness, proclivity, bent, turn, tone, bias, set, leaning to, predisposition, inclination, propensity, susceptibility; conatus, nisus; liability; quality, nature, temperament; idiocrasy, idiosyncrasy; cast, vein, grain; humor, mood; drift; (direction); conduciveness, conducement; applicability; (utility); subservience; (instrumentality). |
| Source: adapted from Roget's Thesaurus. | |
Crosswords: Propensity |
| English words defined with "propensity": aptness ♦ Concentrativeness ♦ Disposedness ♦ In idle, Inclinable, Inclination of the needle, Inclinnation, Inhabitativeness ♦ Lubricity ♦ Objective point ♦ Pronity, Propendency, Propension, Propensities. (references) |
| Specialty definitions using "propensity": AOL, AOL! ♦ Chlorinated hydrocarbons ♦ REACH, REID VAPOR PRESSURE. (references) |
| Etymologies containing "propensity": Propendency. (references) |
| Domain | Title |
Books | |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Author | Quotation |
Adam Smith | The propensity to truck, barter and exchange one thing for another is common to all men, and to be found in no other race of animals. |
Benjamin Haydon | There surely is in human nature an inherent propensity to extract all the good out of all the evil. |
Hitopadesa | What ever is the natural propensity of a person is hard to overcome. If a dog were made a king, he would still gnaw at his shoes laces. |
Jane Austen | Single women have a dreadful propensity for being poor. Which is one very strong argument in favor of matrimony. |
Seneca | No evil propensity of the human heart is so powerful that it may mot be subdued by discipline. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | |
| Subject | Topic | Quote |
Health | Lower population density, a lesser propensity for peridomestic encroachment and a narrower geographic and ecologic distribution (and perhaps differing virulence) may explain the lack of human disease associated with hantaviruses (or genetic sequences thought to represent additional hantaviruses) from meadow and California voles (Microtus pennsylvanicus and californicus, respectively) and the western harvest mouse (Reithrodontomys megalotis). (references) | |
Economic History | Venezuela | The lack of new revenues associated with lower oil prices could lead to the near depletion or abuse of the funds deposited in the FIEM, leaving the performance of the economy to the private sector, which in recent times has shown very little propensity to invest. (references) |
Thailand | In its 2001 ranking of corrupt practices, Transparency International ranked Thailand along with Malawi at 61st (of a total of 91 ranks) on its corruption perception index (the higher the number, the worse the corruption) . According to some studies, a cultural propensity to forgive bribes as a normal part of doing business and to equate cash payments with finders fees or consultants' charges, coupled with the low salaries of civil servants, encourages officials to accept illegal inducements. (references) | |
Philippines | Both foreign and domestic investors have expressed concern about the propensity of courts to issue temporary restraining orders (TROs) and to stray beyond matters of legal interpretation into policymaking functions. (references) | |
Political Economy | Botswana | The divisions among the opposition parties allowed the BDP to win additional seats in 1999, although its percentage of the popular vote remained largely unchanged from 1994. In addition, the BNF's propensity to focus more on criticism of BDP policies rather than on articulating its own platform worked to the party's disadvantage in the 1999 general elections campaign. (references) |
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC | The exchange rate of the Dominican peso against the U.S. dollar has remained stable through most of 2001. Because of the Dominican Republic's high propensity to import, changes in the exchange rate are politically significant. (references) | |
Worker Rights | Romania | Union members complained that unions must submit their grievances to government-sponsored conciliation before initiating a strike, and that the courts had a propensity to declare illegal the majority of strikes on which they had been asked to rule. (references) |
Lexicography | Devil's Dictionary | REACH, n. The radius of action of the human hand. The area within which it is possible (and customary) to gratify directly the propensity to provide. This is a truth, as old as the hills, That life and experience teach: The poor man suffers that keenest of ills, An impediment of his reach. G.J. |
Source: compiled by the editor from ICON Group International, Inc.; see credits. | ||
| Speaker | Phrase(s) |
David Berkowitz | I feel that God has made me a good person, a decent person. I was not always a good person, and there's a part of everyone that has a propensity to do bad. Even today, I know I could choose to do bad but I don't want to. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Speaker | Term | Phrase(s) |
George Washington | 1789-1797 | The government sometimes participates in the national propensity, and adopts through passion what reason would reject. |
Jimmy Carter | 1977-1981 | Rather, the need for change is driven by the inexorable buildup of Soviet military power and the increasing propensity of Soviet leaders to use this power in coercion and outright aggression to impose their will on others. |
Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
| "Propensity" is generally used as a noun (singular) -- approximately 100.00% of the time. "Propensity" is used about 293 times out of a sample of 100 million words spoken or written in English. Its rank is based on over 700,000 words used in the English language. Some parts-of-speech are not covered due to the samples used by the British National Corpus. (note: percents less than one-hundredth of one percent have been omitted) |
| Parts of Speech | Percent | Usage per 100 Million Words | Rank in English |
| Noun (singular) | 100% | 293 | 16,984 |
Source: compiled by the editor from several corpora; see credits.
Expressions using "propensity": marginal propensity to consume ♦ propensity to attract bad luck ♦ propensity to consume. Additional references. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. |
| The following statistics estimate the number of searches per day across the major English-language search engines as identified by various trade publications. Hyperlinks lead to commercial use of the expression at Amazon.com. |
| Expression | Frequency per Day |
consume marginal propensity | 10 |
propensity | 9 |
propensity score | 6 |
marginal propensity save | 4 |
matching propensity score | 2 |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. | |
| Language | Translations for "propensity"; alternative meanings/domain in parentheses. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Albanian | prirje (affinity, aptitude, bent, current, disposition, drift, flair, fondness, gift, habit, inclination, leaning, liability, mission, penchant, proclivity, run, set, taste, tendency, trend, vocation), tendencë e natyrshme. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Arabic | ميل (affection, aptness, bent, bevel, cant, disposition, flair, genius, gradient, gust, gusto, inclination, lean, leaning, liking, obliqueness, obliquity, penchant, persuasion, ply, predilection, predisposition, proclivity, readiness, run, sentiment, set, slant, slope, strain, tendency, tip, turn, use, will), نزوع (affection, predilection, predisposition, set), نزعة طبيعية. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian | склонност (addiction, affectation, aptitude, bent, bias, disposition, fancy, fondness, habit, inclination, leaning, liability, liking, partiality, penchant, ply, predilection, predispose, prepossession, proclivity, proneness, relish, squint, stomach, taste, tendency, turn, vein), тенденция (drift, hang, movement, pattern, ply, proclivity, proneness, run, set, stream, tendency, tenor, tide, trend, turn, vein), предразположение (inclination, liability, penchant, predispose, prejudice, prepossession, proneness, set). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chinese | 倾向 (declination, Favored, Favoring, inclination, Proclivity, Propensities, Tendencies, tendency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Czech | sklon (aptitude, bent, bevel, bias, dip, disposition, drive, fall, gradient, inclination, lean, leaning, penchant, ply, proclivity, rake, slant, slope, strain, tendency, tilt, twist), náchylnost (inclination, liability, predisposition, proclivity). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Danish | marginal forbrugstilbøjelighed (marginal propensity to consume), marginal forbrugskvote (marginal propensity to consume), investeringstilbøjelighed (propensity to invest), forbrugstilboejelighed (propensity to consume). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Dutch | marginale consumptiequote (marginal propensity to consume), investeringsneiging (propensity to invest), consumptieneiging (propensity to consume). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Farsi | میل باطنی , گرایش (Attitude, Ism, Tendency), تمایل طبیعی (Aptitude), رغبت (Goo, Relish, Zest). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Finnish | rajakulutusalttius (marginal propensity to consume). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
French | prophilie, propension (proclivity), tendance naturelle. (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
German | neigung (affection, affinity, aptitude, bent, bias, declination, decline, dip, disposition, fall, fondness, gradient, inclination, incline, lean, leaning, list, obliqueness, penchant, pitch, predisposition, proclivity, proneness, rake, slant, slope, taste, tendance, tendency, tilt, turn). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Greek | κλίση (acclivity, aptitude, bend, bent, bias, cant, careen, conjugation, flair, flexion, gradient, inclination, inflection, inflexion, leaning, list, penchant, pitch, proclivity, slant, slope, tendency, tilt, tipping), ροπή (inclination, proclivity, tendency, torque, trend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hebrew | טי" (bent, deviation, disposition, inclination, leaning, liking, penchant, pitch, predilection, proclivity, rake, set, slant, spirit, streak, taste, tendency, tenor, tide, tilt, trend). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Hungarian | vonzalom (affection, leaning, liking), hajlam (aptitude, bent, bias, dispose, disposition, gift, hank, inclination, instinct, leaning, liability, penchant, predisposition, proclivity, proneness, susceptibility, tendency), hajlandóság (inclination, leaning, notion, stomach, tendency, willingness). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Italian | propensione (bent, inclination, leaning, proneness, propension, taste), tendenza (bent, departure, disposition, drift, liability, proclivity, strain, tendency, trend, undercurrent), inclinazione (addiction, aptitude, assessment, bend, bent, bias, cant, dip, disposition, fancy, gradient, hang, inclination, lean, liking, penchant, pitch, proclivity, proneness, slant, slope, stoop, taste, tendency, tilt, tip). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Kanji | 偏向 (deflection, inclination, tendency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Japanese Katakana | へ""う (alteration, change, deflection, inclination, modification, partiality, polarization, polarized light, tendency). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Korean | 성향 (inclination, Propensities). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Manx | seiyagh (goring, propelling, propulsive, protruding, pushing, stabbing). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pig Latin | opensitypray propensão (bias, leaning, proclivity, tendency), predisposição (bias, predisposition, prepossession), predileção (addiction, fondness, like, predilection, preference), tendência (aptitude, bent, bias, compliance, current, driving, leaning, liability, proclivity, stomach, tendency, tide, trend, vocation), inclinação (addiction, appetite, bent, bias, camber, canting, climbdown, declination, declivity, descent, dip, disposal, disposition, downhill, droop, falling, fellow feeling, fondness, inclination, lean, leaning, like, liking, list, lopsidedness, motion, partiality, penchant, proclivity, rake, ramp, recession, sag, slant, slope, stomach, tendency, tilt, tip, trend, vocation, will), gosto (dribblet, fellow feeling, flair, flavor, flavour, fondness, gust, gusto, like, liking, palate, pleasure, raciness, relish, salt, sapidity, sapor, savor, savour, spice, style, taste, tooth, treat, zest). (various references) predispoziţie (predisposition, susceptibility, tendency, twist), predilecţie (predilection), slãbiciune (debility, decrepitude, defect, droop, failing, faintness, feebleness, flimsiness, foible, infirmity, languor, leanness, liking, shortcoming, tenuity, weakness), înclinaţie (addiction, aptness, disposition, grain, hade, inclination, incline, individuality, lean, leaning, mind, notion, partiality, penchant, ply, predisposition, proclivity, relish, set, squint, taste, tendency, turn, twist, vein, vocation). (various references) клонность. (various references) togradh (desire, passion). (various references) sklonost (affinity, bent, bias, calling, fancy, fondness, inclination, leaning, liking, penchant, proclivity, taste, tendency). (various references) propensión (disposition, inclination, leaning, predisposition, proclivity, proneness, susceptibility, tendency, turn). (various references) böjelse (addiction, bent, fancy, inclination, leaning, liking, tendency). (various references) meyil (affection, aptitude, bias, cant, declivity, gradient, gravitation, inclination, incline, lean, leaning, liking, obliquity, penchant, proclivity, proneness, slant, slope, talus, tendency, tide, tilt, trend), istek (adjuration, alacrity, appetite, aspiration, avidity, bent, claim, demand, desire, device, devoutness, disposition, earnestness, enthusiasm, grace, hunger, instance, intentness, mind, pleasure, readiness, relish, request, requirement, requisition, stomach, studiousness, suit, urge, want, will, wish, zeal), eğilim (affection, aptitude, bent, bias, current, device, disposition, drift, gravitation, inclination, leaning, liability, notion, obliquity, penchant, ply, predisposition, proclivity, proneness, pulse, relish, sense, set, slant, squint, tendency, tenor, tide, tilt, trend, turn, twist). (various references) нахил (bend, bent, cant, declination, droop, hang, inclination, incline, lurch, notion, obliqueness, obliquity, palate, ply, proclivity, slope, tilt, tip), пристрасть (appetence, appetite, ardency, ardour, bias, care, desire, flame, fondness, leaning, lust, partiality, passion, predilection, rage, weakness, yen). (various references) thiên hướng (disposition, leaning, penchant, turn). (various references) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Language | Period | Translations |
| Latin | 500 BCE-Modern | proclivitatem, propendere. (various references) |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references. | ||
Misspellings | |
"Propensity" is suggested in spellcheckers for the following: ppopensity, prepensity, propencity, propensisty, propensit, propensitie, propenssity, proposity, provensity, prpensity. (additional references) | |
| Source: compiled by the editor, based on several corpora (additional references). | |
| # of Phoneme Matches | Pronunciation | Word(s) rhyming with "propensity" (pronounced prupe"nsutē) |
| 6 | -e" n s u t ē | density, intensity. |
| 4 | -s u t ē | adversity, analyticity, animosity, atrocity, audacity, authenticity, biodiversity, capacity, complexity, complicity, curiosity, diversity, domesticity, duplicity, eccentricity, elasticity, electricity, ethnicity, falsity, Felicity, ferocity, generosity, incapacity, laxity, mendacity, monstrosity, multiplicity, necessity, obesity, opacity, overcapacity, paucity, perplexity, perversity, pomposity, publicity, reciprocity, religiosity, scarcity, simplicity, specificity, tenacity, toxicity, university, varsity, velocity, veracity, virtuosity, viscosity, voracity. |
| 3 | -u t ē | ability, abnormality, absurdity, acceptability, accessibility, accountability, acidity, activity, actuality, acuity, adaptability, admissibility, advisability, affinity, affordability, aggressivity, agility, alacrity, alkalinity, ambiguity, amenity, amiability, amity, annuity, anonymity, antiquity, anxiety, applicability, austerity, authority, availability, banality, barbarity, believability, bestiality, bisexuality, brevity, brutality, calamity, capability, captivity, causality, cavity, celebrity, centrality, charity, chastity, civility, clarity, collegiality, commodity, commonality, community, comparability, compatibility, comprehensibility, conditionality, conductivity, confidentiality, conformity, congeniality, congruity, connectivity, constitutionality, continuity, convertibility, creativity, credibility, credulity, criminality, criticality, crotchety, culpability, cyclicality, debility, deductibility, deformity, deity, deniability, dependability, depravity, deputy, desirability, dexterity, dignity, dimensionality, disability, discontinuity, disparity, dissimilarity, disunity, divinity, docility, duality, ductility, durability, electability, eligibility, enforceability, enmity, enormity, entity, equality, equanimity, equity, eternity, eventuality, exclusivity, expressivity, extraterritoriality, extremity, facility, fallibility, familiarity, fatality, feasibility, femininity, fertility, festivity, fidelity, finality, flammability, flexibility, fluidity, formality, fragility, fraternity, frivolity, frugality, functionality, futility, generality, geniality, gentility, gratuity, gravity, gullibility, heredity, heterogeneity, heterosexuality, hilarity, homogeneity, homosexuality, hospitality, hostility, humanity, humidity, humility, hyperactivity, hypersensitivity, identity, illegality, illiquidity, immaturity, immobility, immorality, immortality, immunity, impartiality, impersonality, impossibility, impropriety, impunity, impurity, inability, inaccessibility, inactivity, incivility, incompatibility, incongruity, incredulity, indemnity, indestructibility, indignity, individuality, inequality, inequity, inevitability, infallibility, inferiority, infertility, infidelity, infinity, infirmity, inflexibility, informality, ingenuity, inhumanity, insanity, insecurity, insensitivity, instability, instrumentality, insularity, integrity, invincibility, invisibility, invulnerability, irrationality, irregularity, irresponsibility, irritability, laity, legality, legibility, lethality, levity, liability, liberality, liquidity, lividity, locality, longevity, majority, malleability, maneuverability, marketability, masculinity, materiality, maternity, maturity, mediocrity, mentality, minority, miscibility, mobility, modality, modernity, morality, morbidity, mortality, motility, municipality, musicality, mutuality, nationality, nativity, negativity, neutrality, nobility, Nonconformity, nonentity, nonutility, normality, notoriety, nudity, objectivity, obscenity, obscurity, oddity, opportunity, originality, oversensitivity, palatability, parity, partiality, particularity, passivity, paternity, peculiarity, permeability, perpetuity, personality, piety, plausibility, plurality, polarity, polity, popularity, portability, possibility, posterity, practicality, predictability, principality, priority, probability, probity, proclivity, productivity, profanity, profitability, progressivity, promiscuity, proportionality, propriety, prosperity, proximity, punctuality, purity, quality, quantity, radioactivity, rapidity, rarity, rationality, reactivity, readability, reality, receptivity, reflexivity, regularity, relativity, reliability, respectability, responsibility, retroactivity, rickety, rigidity, salinity, sanctity, sanity, seasonality, security, selectivity, senility, seniority, sensibility, sensitivity, sensuality, sentimentality, serendipity, serenity, severity, sexuality, similarity, sincerity, sobriety, society, solemnity, solidarity, solidity, sorority, speciality, spirituality, spontaneity, stability, sterility, stupidity, subjectivity, suitability, superconductivity, superfluidity, superiority, supermajority, surety, survivability, susceptibility, sustainability, technicality, temerity, theatricality, timidity, tonality, totality, tranquility, transferability, Trinity, triviality, turbidity, ubiquity, unanimity, unavailability, unfamiliarity, uniformity, unity, universality, unpopularity, unpredictability, unreality, unreliability, uppity, utility, validity, vanity, variability, variety, velvety, venality, Verity, versatility, viability, vicinity, virginity, virility, visibility, vitality, volatility, vulgarity, vulnerability. |
Source: compiled by the editor (additional references); see credits. | ||
Scrabble® Enable2K-Verified Anagrams | |
| Words within the letters "e-i-n-o-p-p-r-s-t-y" | |
-2 letters: pointers, porniest, propines, proteins, snippety, tropines, tyrosine. | |
-3 letters: entropy, isotype, nippers, norites, oestrin, orients, orpines, pintoes, pointer, pointes, postern, potpies, propine, prostie, protein, pterins, pyrites, pyrones, pyropes, reposit, riposte, ripstop, ropiest, snipper, snippet, soppier, stonier, stopper, stroppy, tippers, toppers, topspin, tropine, tropins, trypsin. | |
-4 letters: esprit, estrin, inerts, insert, instep, inters, intros, irones, nestor. | |
| Words containing the letters "e-i-n-o-p-p-r-s-t-y" | |
+1 letter: periphytons. | |
+4 letters: hypnotherapies, hypnotherapist, pyelonephritis. | |
+5 letters: cyproheptadines, hypnotherapists, prepositionally. | |
| Source: compiled by the editor from various references; see credits. SCRABBLE® is a registered trademark. All intellectual property rights in and to the game are owned in the U.S.A and Canada by Hasbro Inc., and throughout the rest of the world by J.W. Spear & Sons Limited of Maidenhead, Berkshire, England, a subsidiary of Mattel Inc. Mattel and Spear are not affiliated with Hasbro. | |
| 1. Definition 2. Synonyms 3. Crosswords 4. Usage: Commercial | 5. Quotations: Familiar 6. Quotations: Non-fiction 7. Quotations: Spoken 8. Quotations: Speeches | 9. Usage Frequency 10. Expressions 11. Expressions: Internet 12. Translations: Modern | 13. Translations: Ancient 14. Derivations 15. Rhymes 16. Anagrams | 17. Bibliography |
Copyright © Philip M. Parker, INSEAD. Terms of Use.
