Find the word definition

Crossword clues for proclivity

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
proclivity
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ VERB
show
▪ But old habits die hard, and Apple has shown a proclivity to chase market share while hand-wringing over shrinking gross margins.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ It is those who had no proclivity towards will making about whom we most wish to know.
▪ Note that certain ancient gender-based proclivities, for better or worse, still often come into play.
▪ Quantitative material is also used as evidence for the criminal proclivities of persons with certain social characteristics.
▪ This proclivity hinders their ability to respond effectively to challenges.
▪ When did our nationalist proclivities get traded for brute anticommunism?
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Proclivity

Proclivity \Pro*cliv"i*ty\, n. [L. proclivitas: cf. F. proclivit['e].]

  1. Inclination; propensity; proneness; tendency. ``A proclivity to steal.''
    --Abp. Bramhall.

  2. Readiness; facility; aptitude.

    He had such a dexterous proclivity as his teachers were fain to restrain his forwardness.
    --Sir H. Wotton.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
proclivity

1590s, from Middle French proclivité or directly from Latin proclivitatem (nominative proclivitas) "a tendency, predisposition, propensity," from proclivis "prone to," literally "sloping, inclined," from pro- "forward" (see pro-) + clivus "a slope," from PIE *klei-wo-, suffixed form of *klei "to lean" (see lean (v.)).

Wiktionary
proclivity

n. A predisposition or natural inclination, propensity, or a predilection; especially refers to a strong disposition or bent.

WordNet
proclivity

n. a natural inclination; "he has a proclivity for exaggeration" [syn: propensity, leaning]

Usage examples of "proclivity".

I recommend those who have cats with philoprogenitive proclivities, instead of drowning the kittens, to eat them.

In the person of Fra Palamone, of whose scoundrelly proclivities I had had more than an inkling already, it is undoubtedly true that many agreeable qualities were to be found.

Also, however, knowing the unfortunate proclivities of that pack of unhung thieves who arrange my audiences, I am more than sure that you had to lay out more than just a few full ounces of gold, ere you at last entered this chamber, so allow me to reimburse at least a fraction of that expense.

But on account of his political proclivities Azara is quite silent as to the state into which the missions fell after the Jesuits had been expelled.

The result was that through 1978, I edited only nine anthologies, which is very few for a person of my own wholesale proclivities who considers nothing worth doing that isn worth doing a lot.

But the most significant outcome of the pooling of the Terran proclivity for intrigue with alien technical ability was the establishing of the first direct contact between Earth and Thurien, bypassing the Jevlenese and the millennia-old surveillance system.

Joel was forced to confess his proclivities, which both shocked and angered his mother.

Fanged Skeleton, recalling her Soletaken proclivities, and its hunger that had so clearly led to their failure so long ago.

And yet, with your sporting proclivities, I feel sure you must be interested in cards.

In the corner of the room were two hockey-sticks and a tennis-racket, and upon the walls Ann Veronica, by means of autotypes, had indicated her proclivities in art.

But why does it matter what biases and emotional predisposi­tions scientists bring to their studies, so long as they are scrupulously honest and other people with different proclivities check their results?

He was completely unaware that his wounded mitt hung so tantalizingly in the water, just as he was unaware of the cannibalistic proclivities of Callinectes sapidus, the common blue crab.

Tharlean ground autos were generally simpler and less ostentatious than Terran designs, though with the same proclivity for curviness that was evident in the architecture and the boats.

But I have heard talk of his proclivity for dabbling in Black Arts and sorcery.

An easy-going father, famed for his eccentricities, had sanctioned, even encouraged, her sporting proclivities.