distinctive

American  

[dih-stingk-tiv] / dɪˈstɪŋk tɪv /

adjective

1. serving to distinguish; characteristic; distinguishing: distinguishing.

   the distinctive stripes of the zebra.

   Synonyms:

   individual

2. having a special quality, style, attractiveness, etc.; notable.

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distinctive British  

/ dɪˈstɪŋktɪv /

adjective

1. serving or tending to distinguish

2. denoting one of a set of minimal features of a phoneme in a given language that serve to distinguish it from other phonemes. The distinctive features of /p/ in English are that it is voiceless, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive; /b/ is voiced, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive: the two differ by the distinctive feature of voice

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Other Word Forms

• distinctively adverb
• distinctiveness noun
• subdistinctive adjective
• subdistinctively adverb
• subdistinctiveness noun

Etymology

Origin of distinctive

First recorded in 1575–85; from Medieval Latin distinctīvus; equivalent to distinct + -ive

Example Sentences

Scotland has its own income tax system, which has moved in a distinctive direction with six different bands ranging from 19% to 48%.

From BBC

Ms. Snider’s distinctive compositional voice finds the otherworldly in the day-to-day.

From The Wall Street Journal

"Currently, Heineken lacks a clear premium identity, in contrast to a brand like Guinness which has carved out a distinctive and aspirational positioning," he said.

From BBC

He also was a sonic architect—insisting that studio albums by the Dead sounded sterling and pushing for more distinctive live audio.

From The Wall Street Journal

But the not-so-obvious benefit of U.S. involvement in running the country might come from the distinctive ability of American refineries to handle the type of oil that Venezuela claims to have in abundance.

From MarketWatch

Related Words

• cool
• extraordinary
• idiosyncratic
• offbeat
• original
• peculiar
• singular
• special
• weird