ten·den·cy
(tĕńdən-sē)
[Medieval Latin tendentia, from Latin tendēns, tendent- present participle of tendere, to tend; see tend1.]
noun: pl., -cies.
- Movement or prevailing movement in a given direction: observed the tendency of the wind; the shoreward tendency of the current.
- A characteristic likelihood: fabric that has a tendency to wrinkle.
- A predisposition to think, act, behave, or proceed in a particular way.
- An implicit direction or purpose: not openly liberal, but that is the tendency of the book.
- An implicit point of view in written or spoken matter; a bias.
synonyms:
tendency, trend, current, drift, tenor, inclination These nouns refer to the direction or course of an action or thought. Tendency implies a predisposition to proceed in a particular way: “The tendency of our own day is … towards firm, solid, verifiable knowledge” (William H. Mallock) Trend often applies to a general or prevailing direction, especially within a particular sphere: “the trend of religious thought in recent times” (James Harvey Robinson) Current suggests a course or flow, as of opinion, especially one representative of a given time or place: “the whole current of modern feeling” (James Bryce) A drift is a tendency that seems driven by a shifting current: a drift toward communism in Latin America. Tenor implies a continuous, unwavering course: “His conduct was … uniform and unvarying in its tenor” (Frederick Marryat) Inclination usually refers to an individual's propensity for or disposition toward one thing rather than another: an inclination to overindulge in sweets.
