penchant

Intermediatezipf 3.07

Pronunciation

/ˈpɛnʃɒ̃/ or /ˈpɛntʃənt/(PEN-shon or PEN-chunt)

Part of speech

nounformal

Chinese

嗜好；偏好；强烈倾向

Definition

A strong habitual liking for something; an inclination.

Word family

  • (no major derivatives)

Collocations

  • penchant for
  • have a penchant
  • penchant for drama
  • penchant for risk

Examples

  1. 1.He has a penchant for expensive watches. (strong liking)
  2. 2.Her penchant for adventure led her to travel to 50 countries. (inclination)

Synonyms

  • fondness/ˈfɒndnəs/— liking, warm
  • inclination/ˌɪnklɪˈneɪʃən/— tendency toward
  • predilection/ˌpriːdɪˈlɛkʃən/— formal preference

Etymology

from French "pencher" = to lean, tilt — leaning toward something you like