proclivity

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for October 13, 2015 is: proclivity • \proh-KLIV-uh-tee\  • noun : an inclination or predisposition toward something; especially : a strong inherent inclination toward something objectionable Examples: Martin's proclivity to lose his temper made him difficult to work with. "Neither graduated from high school nor had any engineering background. But [Wilbur and Orville Wright] had a crucial trait: a proclivity for tinkering." — Curt Schleier, The Investor's Business Daily, 4 Sept. 2015 Did you know? Have you always had this leaning toward wanting to know about words and their etymologies? Maybe you even have a propensity to use the featured word several times in the course of the day—due, of course, not to a proclivity for pretentiousness, but because you simply have a penchant for using a rich vocabulary. And perhaps you have a predilection for using lots of synonyms, such as proclivity (from clivus, the Latin word for "slope"), referring to a tendency usually toward something bad; propensity, suggesting an often uncontrollable inclination; penchant, meaning an irresistible attraction; and predilection, which describes a strong liking derived from one's temperament. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.