PENCHANT

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does penchant mean? 

• PENCHANT (noun)
  The noun PENCHANT has 1 sense:

1. a strong liking

  Familiarity information: PENCHANT used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• PENCHANT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A strong liking

Classified under:

Nouns denoting feelings and emotions

Synonyms:

penchant; predilection; preference; taste

Context example:

the Irish have a penchant for blarney

Hypernyms ("penchant" is a kind of...):

liking (a feeling of pleasure and enjoyment)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "penchant"):

acquired taste (a preference that is only acquired after considerable experience)

weakness (a penchant for something even though it might not be good for you)

 Context examples 

Little friend, said he, in quite a changed tone—while his face changed too, losing all its softness and gravity, and becoming harsh and sarcastic—you have noticed my tender penchant for Miss Ingram: don't you think if I married her she would regenerate me with a vengeance?

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He ran across a book in the library on the care of the body, and promptly developed a penchant for a cold-water bath every morning, much to the amazement of Jim, and to the bewilderment of Mr. Higginbotham, who was not in sympathy with such high-fangled notions and who seriously debated whether or not he should charge Martin extra for the water.

(Martin Eden, by Jack London)

With a turn for literary expression myself, and a penchant for forcible figures and phrases, I appreciated, as no other listener, I dare say, the peculiar vividness and strength and absolute blasphemy of his metaphors.

(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)