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Tendancy or tendency?

Did you mean tendency? Here's the right spelling and how to remember it.

Incorrect

tendancy

Correct

tendency

Letter by letter
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Correct spelling: tendency. Misspelling: tendancy.

letters the misspelling gets wrong or leaves out letters that shouldn't be there

Memory tip

Tend + ency: it ends like emergency and frequency, not with -ancy.

Why people write “tendancy”

The misspelling “tendancy” is only one letter off: it writes A where tendency has E, an easy slip because in an unstressed syllable both vowels can sound like the same soft "uh".

Spell-checkers catch the mistake in a document, but not in a handwritten note, a text message or a word game. Writing the word out a few times while saying the tricky part aloud is the quickest way to make tendency automatic.

What does “tendency” mean?

tendency noun

  1. an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others

    “he had an inclination to give up too easily”

    Synonyms:inclinationdisposition

  2. an inclination to do something

    “he felt leanings toward frivolity”

    Synonyms:leaningpropensity

  3. a characteristic likelihood of or natural disposition toward a certain condition or character or effect

    “the alkaline inclination of the local waters”

    Synonyms:inclination

  4. a general direction in which something tends to move

    “the shoreward tendency of the current”

    Synonyms:trend

Definitions from WordNet 3.1, Princeton University. Full dictionary entry

“Tendency” in a sentence

  • He has a tendency to exaggerate.
  • He had an inclination to give up too easily.
  • He felt leanings toward frivolity.
  • The alkaline inclination of the local waters.

Is “tendency” a playable word?

t 1e 1n 1d 2e 1n 1c 3y 4

14 points in Scrabble · 16 in Words With Friends

  • Scrabble (US)
  • Scrabble (UK)
  • Words With Friends

“tendancy” is not accepted in any of these games. See every word you can make from TENDENCY.

Tendency: quick answers

Is it tendancy or tendency?
The correct spelling is tendency. “tendancy” is a misspelling: it does not appear in standard dictionaries or in the Scrabble and Words With Friends word lists.
How can I remember how to spell tendency?
Tend + ency: it ends like emergency and frequency, not with -ancy.
What does tendency mean?
Tendency means: an attitude of mind especially one that favors one alternative over others.