What does penchant mean?
Word: Penchant
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: Penchant means a strong taste for something that you keep going back to.
Synonyms: liking, inclination
Word origin: From French penchant, from the verb pencher.
How do you spell penchant?
Syllables: pen - chant
Tricky part: So many nouns end in ent that students write penchent. This French borrowing ends in ant.
Watch out for: penchent, penchint, pentchant
Memory tip: Imagine a child with a penchant for watching ants; the word ends just as that insect does.
Penchant in a sentence
Example 1: Grandma has a penchant for old Hindi film songs.
Example 2: His penchant for bright socks is known across the school.
Example 3: Riya's penchant for puzzles took her to the state finals.
Fun Fact
The word still carries a trace of its past: many British speakers say it the French way rather than as it looks.
Practise the CREST Way
Spell Spies
Choose the misspelt word/s in the given sentence:
My cousin has a penshant for old maps and colects them from every town he visits.
a) only colects
b) maps and colects
c) penshant and colects
d) only penshant
Show answer
c) penshant and colects. Two words are wrong: the page word needs ch in the middle, and collects needs a double l.
Back to the Roots
Choose the correct option:
Penchant goes back to the French verb pencher. What does pencher mean?
a) to lean
b) to dream
c) to fold
d) to paint
Show answer
a) to lean. A liking can be pictured as a leaning towards something.
Word Twins
Choose the correct option to fill both blanks:
1. She wore a small silver ____ on a chain around her neck. 2. Kabir has a ____ for spicy street food.
a) pendant/penchant
b) 'pendant' in both
c) 'penchant' in both
d) penchant/pendant
Show answer
a) pendant/penchant. A chain carries one kind of thing; a taste for food is quite another.
Word Puzzle
Match each word with its synonym:
1. penchant 2. dearth 3. acumen a. shrewdness b. scarcity c. fondness
a) 1-b, 2-c, 3-a
b) 1-a, 2-c, 3-b
c) 1-b, 2-a, 3-c
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a
Show answer
d) 1-c, 2-b, 3-a. A dearth of rain is a scarcity, and business acumen is shrewdness.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which habit best shows a penchant for mangoes?
a) selling them outside the station
b) choosing them first at every market
c) trying one once on a school trip
d) drawing one for an art lesson
Show answer
b) choosing them first at every market
2. Which line suggests a penchant?
a) Dev saw lemon tea on a menu today.
b) Dev has never heard of lemon tea.
c) Dev tried lemon tea once last year.
d) Dev orders lemon tea at every cafe.
Show answer
d) Dev orders lemon tea at every cafe.
