Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

tendency

/ˈtɛn.dən.si/

Word Rarity Rare

Frequency: Zipf frequency 3.96 in modern English

Syllables: ten-den-cy
IPA: /ˈtɛn.dən.si/

14

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

3

Syllables

6

Unique Chars

Meaning

noun

A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.

noun

An organised unit or faction within a larger political organisation.

Example Sentences

"Denim has a tendency to fade."
"I have a tendency to get bored after the first half an hour of a movie."
"There's a common tendency among first-game visitors to a casino to bet overcautiously."
"In some details, Britannia shows the trend towards American practice that was already apparent in later L.M.S.R. designs—for example, in regard to the mounting of the cab—and this tendency has been further developed in the footwalk with deep sideplating, mounted on the boiler, in place of the framing and splashers usual in British practice in the past."
"It seems that people with an ancestral history of enduring famines develop a tendency to store more body fat, becoming overfat even when they aren’t overweight."
"Mao launched the struggle against the vulgar materialist tendency within the party as early as 1937."

Etymology

From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendens, present participle of tendō.

Word Breakdown

Root: tendentia

Regional Pronunciation

American English: /ˈtɛn.dən.si/
British English: /ˈtɛn.dən.si/

Inflected Forms

tendencies (plural)

Derived Forms

ambitendency countertendency multitendency tendentious

Phrases

book bowel tendency central tendency measure of central tendency Serota tendency tendency tone tendency writing

Synonyms

inclination disposition propensity penchant trend leaning

Rhymes With

dependency ascendancy ascendency

Questions

How do you pronounce tendency?: The recorded pronunciation is /ˈtɛn.dən.si/.
What does tendency mean?: A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.
Where does tendency come from?: From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendens, present participle of tendō.

How to pronounce tendency

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