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penchant
Use
Penchant
in a sentence
pen·chant
/
ˈpɛn
tʃənt;
French
pɑ̃ˈʃɑ̃
/
Show Spelled
[
pen
-ch
uh
nt;
French
pah
n
-
shah
n
]
Show IPA
noun
a strong inclination, taste, or liking for something:
a penchant for outdoor sports.
Origin:
1665–75;
<
French,
noun use of present participle of
pencher
to incline, lean <
Vulgar Latin
*pendicāre,
derivative of
Latin
pendēre
to hang
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
Cite This Source
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penchant
Collins
World English Dictionary
penchant
(ˈpɒŋʃɒŋ)
—
n
a strong inclination or liking; bent or taste
[C17: from French, from
pencher
to incline, from Latin
pendēre
to be suspended]
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Relevant Questions
What Is Penchant?
What Does Penchant Mean?
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What Is Penchant?
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What Does Penchant Mean?
00:10
Penchant
is a GRE word you need to know.
So is
rebuff
. Does it mean:
So is
incommodious
. Does it mean:
So is
turncoat
. Does it mean:
A peremptory or unexpected rejection of advances or approaches.
a person who attacks cherished beliefs, traditional institutions, etc., as being based on error or superstition.
easily understood; completely intelligible or comprehensible
inconvenient, as not affording sufficient space or room; uncomfortable:
having no inherent power of action, motion, or resistance
a person who changes to the opposite party or faction, reverses principles, etc.; renegade.
LEARN MORE GRE WORDS WITH WORD DYNAMO...
Etymonline
Word Origin & History
penchant
1672, from Fr. penchant, properly the prp. of O.Fr. pencher "to incline," from V.L. *pendicare, a frequentative formed from L. pendere "to hang" (see
pendant
).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
penchant
see
have a penchant for
.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
Copyright © 1997. Published by Houghton Mifflin.
Cite This Source
Example sentences
He also came from a downwardly mobile family and had a
penchant
for progressive
political causes.
Despite our
penchant
for accuracy, this website may also contain inadvertent
errors.
Her
penchant
for low-tech solo travel hearkens to an earlier era of exploration.
Yet they also have a
penchant
for sports that promote superstars and breed
controversy, both on and off the field.
Whether you have a
penchant
for musicals, dramas or comedies, there is likely the perfect show for you.
It was not his brainstorm to create his show; had it been, he might well have canceled it given his
penchant
for self-criticism.
Their common trait is a
penchant
for conjuring otherness out of the oddest things.
Even as a girl, Ursula had a
penchant
for tidiness.
From the first, he exploited his boss's
penchant
for focusing on the big picture in order to control the details.
It's therefore possible that animals with an increased
penchant
for endurance exercise may have beefed-up brains.
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