English · Word Candidate

characteristic

/ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/

Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.

Also seen as: characteristics

Sense 1

Meaning · English

Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

Adjective

Examples

All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 2

Meaning · English

A distinguishing feature of a person or thing, a part of mental or physical behavior.

Noun

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Sense 3

Meaning · English

The integer part of a logarithm.

Noun

Examples

It is evident, moreover, that as the logarithms of numbers, which are tenfold, the one of the other, do not differ except in their characteristics, it is sufficient that the tables contain the fractional parts only of the logarithms.

Usage example from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01)

Sources & notes

Adapted from English Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 4.0, retrieved 2026-08-01 via kaikki.org).

Common questions

What does “characteristic” mean?

Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

Is “characteristic” formal or informal?

No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.