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 His tire warm-up work on Mercedes’ cool-weather predilection sent him to Las Vegas glory. Alex Kalinauckas, New York Times, 20 June 2025 In All of this makes Fort Lauderdale’s current bullishness even more exceptional because the forces underpinning it aren’t being driven by Florida’s frequent predilection for opportunism and myopia. Peter Lane Taylor, Forbes.com, 10 June 2025 The first idea merged his predilection for movement across landscapes with the autobiographical. Alex Vernon may 27, Literary Hub, 27 May 2025 Doing so will prevent innocent youths, who supposedly enroll with no prior political predilections, from being brainwashed into raging leftists. James Unnever, The Orlando Sentinel, 10 May 2025 See All Example Sentences for predilection
Recent Examples of Synonyms for predilection
Noun
  • This practice has fostered a tendency to conflate diagnosis with management frameworks, confuse co-morbidities with symptoms, and ultimately blur the distinction between obesity as a risk factor and as a disease state.
    Francesco Rubino, Time, 9 July 2025
  • The bill ultimately continues a generations-long Republican tendency to transfer wealth upward while abandoning working Americans. Davis: The wealth transfer Trump seeks is from government to taxpayers.
    Newsweek Staff, MSNBC Newsweek, 9 July 2025
Noun
  • The inclination of those operating from this skillset is to evaluate the interrelationships and interconnections within and between steps, processes, systems and people.
    Terina Allen, Forbes.com, 30 June 2025
  • Marseille’s artistic inclination is matched by an obsession with food which, typically, is very different from what appears on plates in the rest of France.
    The Editors, JSTOR Daily, 20 June 2025
Noun
  • Each drill was designed to test Beringer’s physical makeup and his aptitude for the game.
    Jon Krawczynski, New York Times, 11 July 2025
  • The Watch 8 series also offers a 12-minute running test to gauge your current aptitude for the activity from 1 (beginner) to 10 (pro).
    PC Magazine, PC Magazine, 11 July 2025
Noun
  • However, instead of removing the minerals from the water, these devices make the minerals soluble in the water.
    Timothy Dale, Better Homes & Gardens, 14 Mar. 2025
  • However, these incidents underscore the importance of regularly updating your devices to stay protected against evolving threats.
    Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report, Fox News, 14 Mar. 2025
Noun
  • But for Bolduc, despite Gorton’s history of affinity for him, that is more of a projection with a far smaller sample of data to work with.
    Arpon Basu, New York Times, 9 July 2025
  • What Readers Loved About Canada Resorts Canada is teeming with gorgeous coastlines, mountains, lakes, and forests—and our readers have a clear affinity for resorts within close proximity of these natural features.
    Lydia Mansel, Travel + Leisure, 8 July 2025
Noun
  • The point isn’t just that stalwart reporter Lois Lane (played here, appealingly enough, by Rachel Brosnahan) can swoon over Superman and feel only mild affection for Clark Kent, ostensibly because women tend to go for the hot guy over the nice one.
    Stephanie Zacharek, Time, 11 July 2025
  • The song captures Secor’s complicated affections for a city that is rapidly changing.
    Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 11 July 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Predilection.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/predilection. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.

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