propensity

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for August 20, 2024 is: propensity \pruh-PENN-suh-tee\ noun A propensity is a strong natural tendency to do something. // As a child, she had a strong propensity for mischief. [See the entry >](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/propensity) Examples: "The work suggests that the propensity for the cleverest AI chatbots to [go off the rails](https://bit.ly/4d44u1w) isn’t just a quirk that can be papered over with a few simple rules." — WIRED, 1 Aug. 2023 Did you know? If you’re partial to picking synonyms of propensity, perhaps peruse the letter "p," which predominates for such words, in our pages. [Proclivity](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/proclivity), [preference](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/preference), [penchant](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/penchant), and [predilection](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/predilection) all share with propensity the principal meaning of "a strong instinct or liking." Propensity comes from Latin prōpensus, a form of prōpendēre, a verb meaning "to incline" or "to hang down" (as [pendulous](https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/pendulous) things do). With that in mind, it’s perfectly plausible that leaning and inclination are as good synonyms of propensity as any of those "p"-words.