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TENDENCY
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect
Example:
fabric with a tendency to shrink
Synonyms:
inclination; tendency
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("tendency" is a kind of...):
disposition (a natural or acquired habit or characteristic tendency in a person or thing)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tendency"):
heterosis; hybrid vigor ((genetics) the tendency of a crossbred organism to have qualities superior to those of either parent)
buoyancy (the tendency to float in water or other liquid)
electronegativity; negativity ((chemistry) the tendency of an atom or radical to attract electrons in the formation of an ionic bond)
stainability ((cytology) the capacity of cells or cell parts to stain specifically with certain dyes)
desire (an inclination to want things)
Sense 2
Meaning:
An attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others
Example:
a tendency to be too strict
Synonyms:
disposition; inclination; tendency
Classified under:
Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents
Hypernyms ("tendency" is a kind of...):
attitude; mental attitude (a complex mental state involving beliefs and feelings and values and dispositions to act in certain ways)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "tendency"):
impartiality; nonpartisanship (an inclination to weigh both views or opinions equally)
partiality; partisanship (an inclination to favor one group or view or opinion over alternatives)
disapproval; disfavor; disfavour; dislike (an inclination to withhold approval from some person or group)
favor; favour (an inclination to approve)
predisposition (an inclination beforehand to interpret statements in a particular way)
perseveration (the tendency for a memory or idea to persist or recur without any apparent stimulus for it)
literalism (a disposition to interpret statements in their literal sense)
bent; set (a relatively permanent inclination to react in a particular way)
leaning; proclivity; propensity (a natural inclination)
favoritism; favouritism (an inclination to favor some person or group)
sympathy; understanding (an inclination to support or be loyal to or to agree with an opinion)
devices (an inclination or desire; used in the plural in the phrase 'left to your own devices')
denominationalism (the tendency, in Protestantism, to separate into religious denominations or to advocate such separations)
Call (a special disposition (as if from a divine source) to pursue a particular course)
drift; movement; trend (a general tendency to change (as of opinion))
direction (a general course along which something has a tendency to develop)
Derivation:
tend (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)
tendencious; tendentious (having or marked by a strong tendency especially a controversial one)
Sense 3
Meaning:
An inclination to do something
Example:
he felt leanings toward frivolity
Synonyms:
leaning; propensity; tendency
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("tendency" is a kind of...):
inclination (that toward which you are inclined to feel a liking)
Derivation:
tend (have a tendency or disposition to do or be something; be inclined)
Sense 4
Meaning:
A general direction in which something tends to move
Example:
the trend of the stock market
Synonyms:
tendency; trend
Classified under:
Nouns denoting spatial position
Hypernyms ("tendency" is a kind of...):
direction; way (a line leading to a place or point)
Context examples:
But the man had hereditary tendencies of the most diabolical kind.
(The Memoirs of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
My dear Watson, you as a medical man are continually gaining light as to the tendencies of a child by the study of the parents.
(The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
She was sure that in my every purpose I should gain a firmer and a higher tendency, through the grief I had undergone.
(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)
An inherited deficiency of coagulation factor VIII characterized by the tendency to spontaneous or exaggerated post-traumatic hemorrhage.
(Hemophilia A, NCI Thesaurus)
A group of autosomal recessive inherited disorders characterized by albinism, bleeding tendency, and lung disorders such as pulmonary fibrosis.
(Hermansky-Pudlak Syndrome, NCI Thesaurus)
The adenomas are most often tubular, and they have the tendency to progress to adenocarcinoma.
(Familial adenomatous polyposis, NCI Thesaurus)
Clinical manifestations include truncal obesity with thin extremities, thinning of the skin, osteoporosis, and a tendency to bruise easily.
(ACTH-Producing Pituitary Gland Adenoma, NCI Thesaurus)
The conscious tendency to act, usually an aspect of mental process.
(Conation, NCI Thesaurus)
It affects males twice as much as females and a familial tendency is common.
(Congenital Alopecia, NCI Thesaurus)
These lesions typically affect young adults and have an intrinsic tendency for malignant progression to anaplastic astrocytoma and, ultimately, glioblastoma.
(Diffuse Astrocytoma, NCI Thesaurus/Adapted from WHO)
