characterization

[ kar-ik-ter-uh-zey-shuhn, -truh-zey- ]

noun

1. portrayal; description:

   the actor's characterization of a politician.

   Synonyms: delineation, depiction, representation

2. the act of characterizing or describing the individual quality of a person or thing.
3. the creation and convincing representation of fictitious characters, as in a literary work.

characterization

/ ˌkærɪktəraɪˈzeɪʃən /

noun

1. description of character, traits, etc
2. the act of characterizing

Other Words From

• re·charac·ter·i·zation noun
• self-charac·ter·i·zation noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of characterization¹

1560–70; < Medieval Latin charactērizāt ( us ) marked (past participle of charactērizāre to characterize; -ate ¹ ) + Latin -iōn- -ion

Example Sentences

This characterization comes from the mouth of Mozilla executive director Mark Surman, who was summarizing the nonprofit’s annual Internet Health Report.

From Fortune

Parler immediately objected to this characterization — and filed a lawsuit against Amazon on Monday.

From Washington Post

The costumes deepened the characterizations, for the clothes talk as soon as a person enters a room.

From Washington Post

He feels that’s really an unfair characterization, and I’ve heard him talk about it a lot.

From Voice of San Diego

In other words, we have to accept that it will be complicated and resist characterization by labels that echo the past, like “containment” or “Cold War” — terms inherited from a conflict with an adversary that disappeared.

From Ozy

Hitchcock has a few preliminary ideas for camera moves, and I make a few proposals about characterization and dialogue.

From The Daily Beast

When asked if this characterization had any validity, Raimondo seemed taken aback—I am what?

From The Daily Beast

Needless to say, Howie disagrees with that characterization.

From The Daily Beast

My characterization of radio host Alex Jones (a frequent promoter of the Pauls) sparked outrage among his devotees.

From The Daily Beast

Each campaign is convinced that its characterization of its opponent is accurate and will resonate with the electorate.

From The Daily Beast

The book contains a mass of good material, with original characterization, and is written in a style piquant and clever.

From Project Gutenberg

This truth to life controls, according to Aristotle, both the characterization and the action.

From Project Gutenberg

The fine touches of characterization of which the book is full, give it a great charm to cultivated minds.

From Project Gutenberg

Every characterization seemed the most perfect fit possible until he applied the next.

From Project Gutenberg

His other large novel, 'Jossele Ssolowee,' is also a characterization of the life of an artist, this time a singer.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• confession
• definition
• depiction
• detail
• explanation
• information
• narration
• narrative
• picture
• portrayal
• report
• sketch
• statement
• story
• summary
• tale
• version