penchant
Americannoun
noun
Etymology
Origin of penchant
1665–75; < French, noun use of present participle of pencher to incline, lean < Vulgar Latin *pendicāre, derivative of Latin pendēre to hang
Explanation
A penchant is a strong preference or tendency. If you have a penchant for pizza, you either eat it daily or wish you did. Penchant borrows from French, in which penchant literally means inclined. It goes back to the Latin pendere, for hanging, which is also the source of pendant. In both French and English, speakers have long used the idea of inclination metaphorically: a hillside can be inclined in one direction or another, and so can a person's thoughts. But in English, penchant is only for desires.
Vocabulary lists containing penchant
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
“We said, ‘Wait, what?’ ” says Brannin McBee, a CoreWeave co-founder who was familiar with Jane Street’s penchant for secrecy.
From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 20, 2026
Throughout his career Burrows had a penchant for directing pilots because it meant “you’re better than an episodic director” and could create something new in the writer-driven medium of television.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 19, 2026
But “Never Be the Same” arrives at a moment when Thompson’s penchant for crafting songs that carry a late-’50s structural DNA could serve him well.
From Salon • May 15, 2026
Yet its penchant for letting borrowers pay interest on their loans with noncash IOUs could set the fund up for trouble if the lending environment deteriorates.
From Barron's • May 6, 2026
The regent believed Justice and I brought out the worst in each other, or at least Justice’s penchant for adventures and high-jinks influenced my more conservative disposition.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
