tendency
tend·ency (ten′dən sē)
noun pl. -·cies
- an inclination to move or act in a particular direction or way; constant disposition to some action or state; leaning; bias; propensity; bent
- a course or apparent course toward some purpose, object, or result; drift
- a definite purpose or point of view in something said or written
Etymology: ML tendentia < L tendens, prp. of tendere, to tend
tendency
n.
Direction
Inclination
leaning, tenor, bias, bent; see inclination 1.
tendency refers to an inclination or disposition to move in a particular direction or act in a certain way, esp. as a result of some inherent quality or habit he has a tendency toward exaggeration; trend suggests a general direction, with neither a definite course nor goal, subject to change or fluctuation by some external force a recent trend in literature; current differs from trend in connoting a clearly defined course, but one also subject to change the current of one's life; drift refers either to the course along which something is being carried or driven the drift toward absolute conformity or to a course taken by something that has unstated or unclear implications what is the drift of this argument?; tenor, equivalent in this connection to drift, connotes more strongly the clarity or purport of the unstated purpose or objective the general tenor of the Bill of Rights
Preposition: towards
- violence: They also found that a tendency toward violence or recklessness was directly related to having more sexual partners.
Converse of object
- actualise: The actualising tendency is the motive for changing circumstances that result in " doing better.
- inherit: No test can show whether you have inherited the tendency for nodal or knee osteoarthritis.
- counteract: The best way to counteract tendencies toward bureaucratism is unrestricted criticism.
- centralize: This is, after all, a government with one of the most centralizing tendencies in recent history.
- resist: In the case of shops, designers should resist the tendency to neglect all that occurs above the fascia.
- reinforce: The impasses created by the EU's present strategic choices reinforce these tendencies.
Preposition: in
- literature: There is a tendency in the literature to associate Mackie's model of causality with a deterministic view of the universe.
Adjective modifier
- suicidal: I think I still had depressive and suicidal tendencies but never did anything again.
- latent: Samatha can purify the mind, but it cannot eradicate unwholesome latent tendencies.
- marked: It has often been observed that Persian art has a marked decorative tendency.
- centrifugal: There is a standing centrifugal tendency in the church from Paul to Luke.
- unfortunate: Throughout the remainder of this chapter there is an unfortunate tendency to treat myth as history.
- authoritarian: The dangers of Mr Blair's authoritarian tendencies are amplified by the nature of those about him.
Noun used with modifier
- separatist: Out of this separatist tendency came the Baptist church.
- protectionist: Secondly, by avoiding protectionist tendencies when trade imbalances begin to appear.
- donna: Rainmakers with prima donna tendencies can be helped to adopt this view.
- reductionist: Positively Healthy believes that this reductionist tendency loses much personal data that cannot be turned into mere numbers.
- anarchist: He pitches his piece, most basically, as a comparison of two viewpoints, " two anarchist tendencies.
- action: This in turn predisposes to certain types of perceptions and action tendencies.
Browse dictionary entries near tendency
- tendance
- tend
- tench
- tenantry
- tenantable repair
- tenant services
- tenant farmer
- tenant
- tenancy in common
- tenancy by the entirety
- tendentious
- tender
- tender offer
- tenderfoot
- tenderhearted
- tenderize
- tenderloin
- tenderly
- tenderness
- tending
