characterize
[kar-ik-tuh-rahyz]
- to mark or distinguish as a characteristic; be a characteristic of: Rich metaphors characterize his poetry.
- to describe the character or individual quality of: He characterized her in a few well-chosen words.
- to attribute character to: to characterize him as a coward.
Also especially British, char·ac·ter·ise.
Origin of characterize
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for characterized
Contemporary Examples
They are often characterized as benevolent and admirable; when we do the same, we are angry and unreasonable.
The founder of Valor por Tamaulipas disputes this version of events and has characterized it as disinformation.
This dramatic increase may simply be a matter of reporting—more crimes are being reported and characterized as anti-LGBT.
It's a terrifying disease, characterized by spasms and sometimes followed by fatal bleeding from the nose and mouth.
Frazier characterized the weakened bill as a first step in a yearslong battle.
Historical Examples
It was characterized as "a policy of which peace, progress and retrenchment were the watchwords."
The Grand Old ManRichard B. Cook
Linda entered with exactly the same self-possession that characterized her at home.
Her Father's DaughterGene Stratton-Porter
From the very beginning, the American people have been characterized by idealism.
The American MindBliss Perry
The genus is characterized by awl-shaped spines which are distant at the base.
The Mushroom, Edible and OtherwiseM. E. Hard
Our action is overmastered and characterized above our will by the law of nature.
Essays, First SeriesRalph Waldo Emerson
characterize
characterise
- to be a characteristic ofloneliness characterized the place
- to distinguish or mark as a characteristic
- to describe or portray the character of
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for characterized
characterize
v.
1590s, "to engrave, write," back-formation from characterization, or else from Medieval Latin characterizare, from Greek kharakterizein "to designate by a characteristic mark," from kharakter (see character). Meaning "to describe the qualities of" is recorded from 1630s; that of "to be characteristic" is from 1744. Related: Characterized; characterizing.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper