leaning

leaning n Leaning, propensity, proclivity, penchant, flair mean a strong instinct or liking for something or sometimes someone.

One has a leaning toward something (as a church, a party, or a school of philosophy) when one definitely inclines to attachment to it or to follow it as a pursuit, a profession, or a course of action. Leaning, however, indicates only the direction in which one is being drawn by the force of attraction; it carries no implication of one's final course or destination

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the king was suspected by many of a leaning towards Rome— Macaulay

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he had a leaning toward the law, but his father urged him to study medicine

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a reformer with radical leanings, for years he edited a weekly paper called the Anti-Monopolist—Martin Gardner

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One has a propensity (as toward or for something or to do something) when one has an innate or inherent and often uncontrollable longing or is driven by a natural appetite

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study the propensities of a group of chil- dren

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the inveterate propensity of their husbands to linger about the village tavern— Irving

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such vehement propensities as drove Romeo, Antony, Coriolanus, to their doom— Bradley

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his propensity for sweeping authoritative statement was so supported by bravura passages of description that the gaps in his knowledge were overlooked— Ferguson

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One has a proclivity (as for or towards something or to do something) when one is prone to something not only by natural inclination but also by habitual indulgence or by the peculiarities of one's constitution or temperament

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the vesper sparrow, whose special proclivity for singing at twilight gave it its name— W. P. Smith

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curb a proclivity to lying

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the cow pony often maintained the pitching proclivities of a bronco— Dobie

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Proclivity often implies a tendency toward evil; when it is used without this implication, it still implies a stronger and less controllable urge than the other words here considered

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it [the American national genius] is nourished and sustained by ancient traditions and strong racial proclivities— Sherman

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the American proclivity for red tape and disoriented activity—PP. A. Noyes

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One has a penchant usually for something when it has an irresistible attraction for him or when he has a decided taste for it

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Punjabi peasants have a penchant for a strong yellow that leans towards orange— Rand

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authors of medical articles exhibit on occasion an unusual penchant for extravagant terms, inelegant phrasing— Holman

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One has a flair for something when one has such an instinct for it as leads one to it as if by the very nature of one's being

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had a flair for finding bargains

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reporters with a flair for news

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that marvellous flair for detecting vital mechanism in every field— Ellis

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Often, especially in extended use, flair implies acumen and an innate power of discernment that results in an ability to distinguish the genuine from the counterfeit, the valuable from the valueless, and the significant from the insignificant

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a collector with a flair for the genuine antique

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as an editor he had superlative courage, and a flair for new writers— Repplier

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Sometimes, the notion of "to do" is substituted for that of "to distinguish" and flair becomes a close synonym of knack, aptitude, or talent

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she hasn't a flair for writing

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Analogous words: bias, *predilection, partiality, prepossession, prejudice: inclining or inclination, predisposition (see corresponding verbs at INCLINE): bent, turn, aptitude, faculty, *gift

Antonyms: distaste

Contrasted words: *antipathy, aversion: repugnance, abhorrence, repellency or repulsion (see corresponding adjectives at REPUGNANT)