tendency
ten·den·cy/ˈtɛn.dən.si/noun
tendency is spelled T-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y, 3 syllables: ten·den·cy. The wrong spelling people search most is tendancy: about 100 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 10 of all searches for the word. Tendency is a noun meaning “A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward”. The plural of tendency is tendencies.
How many letters and syllables are in tendency?
| Letters | 8: T-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: ten·den·cy |
| In writing | 9.1 times per million words; the 7,553rd most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 2; the most searched, tendancy, about 100 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; 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 tendency?
Tendency is spelled T-E-N-D-E-N-C-Y. 2 wrong spellings are searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 10 of the searches for tendency 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 tendency?
Tendency appears 9.1 times per million words in written English, the 7,553rd 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 tendency?
- US /ˈtɛn.dən.si/
- Australia /ˈten.dən.si/
Tendency has 3 syllables, split ten·den·cy in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Naomi_Persephone_Amethyst_(NaomiAmethyst)-tendency.wav, En-us-tendency.ogg, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with tendency?
One word on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as tendency from its last stressed vowel (/ɛndənsi/):
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 tendency
- tendencies plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does tendency mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A likelihood of behaving in a particular way or going in a particular direction; a tending toward.
Denim has a tendency to fade.
- 2
An organised unit or faction within a larger political organisation.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Tendency in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense likelihood of behaving in a particular way:
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 tendency come from?
From Medieval Latin tendentia, from tendens, present participle of tendō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).