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The term “tendency” has been in use for a long time: at first, it referred to the domain of physical forces and ideas of moral orientation. Today, multiple meanings are listed. In sociology, it was also initially associated with founding analogies and psychological, causal, and statistical considerations. This study presents a brief panorama of its typical uses in the discipline. The variety of its empiric supports reflects that of research strategies, in particular regarding the explanation of actions. Like numerous sociological concepts, it is quite diverse: its meaning depends on its context of use, the description of which is often complex. But it presents another advantage: it can have a function of weakening and ellipsis, and it exempts the sociologist from giving specific details about this context.