tendency
Drift toward something
A tendency is an inclination toward a particular behavior, outcome, or direction.
Someone with a tendency to procrastinate regularly puts things off.
Markets have tendencies toward growth or contraction.
The word suggests pattern without certainty—a tendency isn't inevitable, just likely.
In political contexts, tendency can mean a faction within a larger movement: the reformist tendency within the party.
Innate behavioral inclination
- proclivityInherent tendency toward something
- predispositionInnate tendency toward something
- leaningTendency toward something
- dispositionInherent character or arrangement
penchant · predilection · bent · affinity · proneness · susceptibility · aptitude · preference
Strong inner drive
- impulseSudden urge to act
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- gutDigestive tract, or instinct
- hunchUnproven inner sense
feeling · sense · notion · premonition · drive · pull · inclination · innate
Preformed unfavorable opinion
- partialityUnfair favor toward some
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- favoritismPreferential treatment of some
- one-sidednessImbalanced viewpoint or treatment
partisanship · subjectivity · slant · skew · leaning · unfairness · predisposition · systemic
Recurring arrangement or template
- routineRegular sequence of actions
- behaviorManner of conducting oneself
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
- customHabitual group practice
repetition · conditioning · regularity · consistency · compulsion · obsession · fixation · quirk
Way something faces
- movementChange in position
- shiftMovement or work period
- driftGradual movement, no direction
- trajectoryPath of moving object
progression · current · wave · evolution · development · flow · swing · upswing
propensity
Innate behavioral inclination
- proclivityInherent tendency toward something
- predispositionInnate tendency toward something
- leaningTendency toward something
disposition · penchant · predilection · bent · affinity · proneness · susceptibility · aptitude · preference · partiality
urge
Strong inner drive
- impulseSudden urge to act
- intuitionInstinctive immediate understanding
- gutDigestive tract, or instinct
hunch · feeling · sense · notion · premonition · drive · pull · inclination · innate · natural
prejudice
Preformed unfavorable opinion
- partialityUnfair favor toward some
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- favoritismPreferential treatment of some
one-sidedness · partisanship · subjectivity · slant · skew · leaning · unfairness · predisposition · systemic · implicit
pattern
Recurring arrangement or template
- routineRegular sequence of actions
- behaviorManner of conducting oneself
- practiceRepeated work toward mastery
custom · repetition · conditioning · regularity · consistency · compulsion · obsession · fixation · quirk · idiosyncrasy
direction
Way something faces
trajectory · progression · current · wave · evolution · development · flow · swing · upswing · downtrend
- Tendenciesprone, apt, inclined, liable, proclivity
- vasanasmental conditioning, impression, inclination, memory trace
- desireswant, wish, desire, wanting, yearning
- dispositionsdisposition, predisposition, inclination, propensity, temperament
- inclinationsinclination, predisposition, proclivity, propensity, leaning
- viewpointsviewpoint, standpoint, perspective, point of view, outlook
tendencyaversion
Intense dislike or repugnance
disinclination · reluctance · repugnance · repulsion · distaste
tendencycertainty
Total absence of doubt
improbability · unlikelihood · randomness · unpredictability · anomaly
tendencydivergence
Separation from common origin
deviation · departure · aberration · anomaly · irregularity
- central tendencyData's typical value
- natural tendency
- quirky tendenciesDistinctive unusual habits