Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

penchant


Listen Later

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for March 31, 2025 is:

penchant • \PEN-chunt\  • noun

Penchant refers to a strong liking for something, or a strong tendency to behave in a certain way. It is usually used with for.

// My penchant for mathematics helped me become an engineer.

See the entry >

Examples:

"Sly Lives! is exceptionally strong in its attention to musical detail—even more than Questlove's previous cinematic effort, the Academy Award–winning Summer of Soul, Sly Lives! feels like a film made by a great musician. The film's interviewees offer illuminating ruminations on Sly's vocal arrangements, including his penchant for switching back and forth between unison vocal parts and harmonized ones ..." — Jack Hamilton, Slate, 13 Feb. 2025

Did you know?

English has multiple p-words that imply a strong instinct or liking for something, including propensity and proclivity, but to keep things precise, penchant is the proper word for implying a pronounced, persistent taste in a person ("a penchant for pretty pendants") or a predominant predilection for performing particular actions ("a penchant for petting penguins"). Penchant traces back all the way to the Latin verb pendere, meaning "to weigh," but is more immediately preceded in English by the French word penchant, from the present participle of pencher, meaning "to incline."



...more
View all episodesView all episodes
Download on the App Store

Merriam-Webster's Word of the DayBy Merriam-Webster

  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5
  • 4.5

4.5

1,189 ratings


More shows like Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day

View all
Speak English with ESLPod.com - Learn English Fast by ESLPod.com

Speak English with ESLPod.com - Learn English Fast

2,545 Listeners

TED Talks Daily by TED

TED Talks Daily

11,131 Listeners

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing by QuickAndDirtyTips.com

Grammar Girl Quick and Dirty Tips for Better Writing

2,829 Listeners

Science Quickly by Scientific American

Science Quickly

1,366 Listeners

Learning English Conversations by BBC Radio

Learning English Conversations

1,089 Listeners

Learn English | EnglishClass101.com by EnglishClass101.com

Learn English | EnglishClass101.com

868 Listeners

RealLife English: Learn and Speak Confident, Natural English by RealLife English

RealLife English: Learn and Speak Confident, Natural English

514 Listeners

All Ears English Podcast by Lindsay McMahon and Michelle Kaplan

All Ears English Podcast

2,275 Listeners

Daily Easy English Expression Podcast by Coach Shane

Daily Easy English Expression Podcast

834 Listeners

IELTS Energy English 7+ by Lindsay McMahon, Jessica Beck, Aubrey Carter

IELTS Energy English 7+

426 Listeners

Real English Conversations Podcast – English for Global Professionals | Speak Clearly & Confidently at Work by Real English Conversations: Amy Whitney & Curtis Davies - English Podcast

Real English Conversations Podcast – English for Global Professionals | Speak Clearly & Confidently at Work

415 Listeners

Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar. by Georgiana, founder of SpeakEnglishPodcast.com

Speak English Now Podcast: Learn English | Speak English without grammar.

585 Listeners

American English Podcast by Shana Thompson

American English Podcast

573 Listeners

Confident Business English by Anna Connelly, Anna Connelly.

Confident Business English

144 Listeners

Business English from All Ears English by Lindsay McMahon

Business English from All Ears English

77 Listeners