predilection
/ˌpɹɛ.dəˈlɛk.ʃn̩/noun
predilection is spelled P-R-E-D-I-L-E-C-T-I-O-N. The wrong spelling people search most is predeliction: about 80 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 18 of all searches for the word. Predilection is a noun meaning “A condition of favoring or liking; a tendency towards; proclivity; predisposition”. The plural of predilection is predilections.
How many letters and syllables are in predilection?
| Letters | 12: P-R-E-D-I-L-E-C-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4 (from its American pronunciation) |
| In writing | about once in every 3 million words; the 51,738th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, predeliction, about 80 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation and the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell predilection?
Predilection is spelled P-R-E-D-I-L-E-C-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 19 of the searches for predilection in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is predilection?
Predilection appears about once in every 3 million words in written English, the 51,738th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce predilection?
- UK /ˌpɹiː.dəˈlɛk.ʃn̩/
- US /ˌpɹɛ.dəˈlɛk.ʃn̩/
Predilection has 4 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-predilection.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with predilection?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as predilection from its last stressed vowel (/ɛkʃn/):
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of predilection
- predilections plural
- prædilection
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does predilection mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A condition of favoring or liking; a tendency towards; proclivity; predisposition.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Predilection in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense tendency towards:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| French | prédilection |
| German | Vorliebe, Neigung, Faible |
| Portuguese | predileção |
| Spanish | predilección |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does predilection come from?
Borrowed from Medieval Latin praedīlēctiō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).