Meaning & use
tendencies
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“tendencies” is a form of “tendency”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meanings
nounplural
Habits or inclinations that make a person or thing likely to behave in a certain way or move in a certain direction.
Grammar: Plural of tendency; often followed by to or toward: tendencies toward anger.
Patterns
- tendencies to do something
- tendencies toward something
Her perfectionist tendencies made group projects stressful for everyone.
Some dogs have protective tendencies that show up around strangers.
The report warned about growing isolationist tendencies in the region.
nounplural
General trends or patterns seen in a set of data, events or developments over time.
Grammar: Used about things rather than people: market tendencies.
Patterns
- tendencies in something
- tendencies among people
Economists studied tendencies in housing prices across the decade.
The survey shows two main tendencies among young voters.
Seasonal tendencies in rainfall make planning crops easier.
Word forms
| singular | tendency |
|---|
Common combinations
- violent tendencies
- The character's violent tendencies were hidden at first.
- artistic tendencies
- His artistic tendencies appeared when he was three.
- natural tendencies
- Fight your natural tendencies and speak slowly.
- show tendencies toward
- The child shows tendencies toward shyness.
- suicidal tendencies
- The nurse noted any signs of suicidal tendencies on the chart.
Synonyms and how they differ
- inclinations
- It stresses what someone feels drawn to, while tendencies describe what they actually tend to do.
- habits
- Habits are repeated actions a person has learned, whereas tendencies can be inborn or just probable.
- leanings
- Leanings is gentler and mostly used for opinions, such as political leanings.
- trends
- Trends describe changes across groups or time, not the character of one person.
Word family
- tendency noun
- singular form of the word
- tend verb
- to be likely to do something
- tendentious adjective
- expressing a strong, often biased point of view
Commonly confused: tendencies or tenancies?
tendencies vs tenancies
Tenancies are periods of renting a property, and the word has nothing to do with habits.
Practice
The coach noticed her ______ to rush the first lap and tire out.
Choose one answer.
'Her' and 'to rush' need a singular noun, so tendency. Tendencies is plural and would need 'tendencies to rush' with no determiner mismatch; here the singular article-like 'her ... to' fits one habit.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “tendencies”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.