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Propensity vs Knack - What's the difference?

propensity | knack | Related terms |

As nouns the difference between propensity and knack

is that propensity is a tendency, preference, or attraction while knack is a readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity.

As a verb knack is

to crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.

propensity

English

Noun

(propensities)
  • A tendency, preference, or attraction.
  • * {{quote-magazine, year=2013, month=May-June, author= Katie L. Burke
    • , title= In the News , volume=101, issue=3, page=193, magazine=(American Scientist) , passage=Bats host many high-profile viruses that can infect humans, including severe acute respiratory syndrome and Ebola. A recent study explored the ecological variables that may contribute to bats’ propensity to harbor such zoonotic diseases by comparing them with another order of common reservoir hosts: rodents.}}

    Synonyms

    * proclivity * propension

    Related terms

    * propense

    knack

    English

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A readiness in performance; aptness at doing something; skill; facility; dexterity.
  • * 2005 , (Plato), Sophist . Translation by Lesley Brown. .
    • The sophist runs for conver to the darkness of what is not and attaches himself to it by some knack of his;
  • *{{quote-news
    • , year=2011 , date=October 2 , author=Jonathan Jurejko , title=Bolton 1–5 Chelsea , work=BBC Sport citation , page= , passage=And the Premier League's all-time top-goalscoring midfielder proved he has not lost the knack of being in the right place at the right time with a trio of clinical finishes.}}
  • A petty contrivance; a toy; a plaything; a knickknack.
  • Something performed, or to be done, requiring aptness and dexterity; a trick; a device.

    • References

    Verb

    (en verb)
  • (obsolete, UK, dialect) To crack; to make a sharp, abrupt noise; to chink.
    • (Bishop Hall)
  • To speak affectedly.
    • (Halliwell)