Definition of predilectionnext

Synonym Chooser

How does the noun predilection contrast with its synonyms?

Some common synonyms of predilection are bias, prejudice, and prepossession. While all these words mean "an attitude of mind that predisposes one to favor something," predilection implies a strong liking deriving from one's temperament or experience.

a predilection for travel

When could bias be used to replace predilection?

Although the words bias and predilection have much in common, bias implies an unreasoned and unfair distortion of judgment in favor of or against a person or thing.

a strong bias toward the plaintiff

When is it sensible to use prejudice instead of predilection?

The words prejudice and predilection can be used in similar contexts, but prejudice usually implies an unfavorable prepossession and connotes a feeling rooted in suspicion, fear, or intolerance.

a mindless prejudice against the unfamiliar

When can prepossession be used instead of predilection?

While the synonyms prepossession and predilection are close in meaning, prepossession suggests a fixed conception likely to preclude objective judgment of anything counter to it.

a prepossession against technology

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of predilection But tell that to the phalanx of local and national entities — from community boards to the Nuclear Regulatory Commission — that don't share their predilections. Jim Cramer, CNBC, 18 Jan. 2026 The big unknown, of course, is how long Trump is willing to stay selling the idea, and whether Republicans will bend to his predilections. Philip Elliott, Time, 14 Jan. 2026 The actor has, over the years, garnered some amount of infamy for his seeming predilection for women under 30. Ryan Coleman, Entertainment Weekly, 12 Jan. 2026 In 1970s Tacoma, a young girl with a predilection for spooky phenomena is seeing demons. Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Jan. 2026 See All Example Sentences for predilection
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predilection
Noun
  • When an investigation like Nancy Guthrie’s passes the two-month mark, there’s a tendency to look back and reexamine all assumptions and decisions made in the first few moments.
    Lizzie Lanuza, StyleCaster, 3 Apr. 2026
  • New cultivars of Pyrus calleryana were bred to reduce Bradford’s tendency to split in snow or high winds.
    Campbell Vaughn, USA Today, 3 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • The 11 satellites on board are flying to a mid-inclination orbit.
    Richard Tribou, The Orlando Sentinel, 2 Apr. 2026
  • The natural inclination, then, might be to try to ridicule the conspiracy believer into feeling enough shame to abandon their belief, but this often only drives them toward it.
    Mike Rothschild, Big Think, 31 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Flutie played beyond his physical abilities partly because of his aptitude.
    Dan Pompei, New York Times, 16 Mar. 2026
  • What Godoy does have a great aptitude for, however, is video games.
    Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 10 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • During the Apollo missions, astronauts used urine collection and transfer devices, as well as plastic bags taped to the buttocks to collect feces.
    ByMary Kekatos, ABC News, 2 Apr. 2026
  • Our bill will ban the federal government from buying and operating these devices made in countries that wish us harm.
    Kurt Knutsson, FOXNews.com, 2 Apr. 2026
Noun
  • For those following news about the war on social media, this affinity network—all these different figures with their own little tribes—has been quickly replacing images of the war with commentary on it.
    Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2026
  • Yes, our heroine is Mary Bennet, she of the off-key singing voice and affinity for vibe-killing piano concertos, a young woman who doesn’t care that men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses and counts a day of being ignored by her family as a lucky escape from being mocked.
    Sophie Brookover, Vulture, 31 Mar. 2026
Noun
  • Annie can be seen playing, seeking affection and happily engaging with Hannah and the other dogs in the home.
    Lucy Notarantonio, MSNBC Newsweek, 30 Mar. 2026
  • Her 84-year-old mother’s case, still being investigated by law enforcement, generated an outpouring of public affection for the co-host.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 27 Mar. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Predilection.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predilection. Accessed 5 Apr. 2026.

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