marked

[mahrkt, mahr-kid]

adjective

1. strikingly noticeable; conspicuous.

   with marked success.

   Synonyms: prominent, obvious, outstanding, striking

2. watched as an object of suspicion or vengeance.

   a marked man.

3. having a mark or marks.

   beautifully marked birds; to read the marked pages.

4. Linguistics.

   1. (of a phoneme) characterized by the presence of a phonological feature that serves to distinguish it from an otherwise similar phoneme lacking that feature, as (d), which, in contrast to (t), is characterized by the presence of voicing.

   2. characterized by the presence of a marker indicating the grammatical function of a construction, as the plural in English, which, in contrast to the singular, is typically indicated by the presence of the marker -s.

   3. specifying an additional element of meaning, in contrast to a semantically related item, as drake in contrast to duck, where drake specifies “male” while duck does not necessarily specify sex.

   4. occurring less typically than an alternative form, as the word order in Down he fell in contrast to the more usual order of He fell down.

marked

/ ˈmɑːkɪdlɪ, mɑːkt /

adjective

1. obvious, evident, or noticeable

2. singled out, esp for punishment, killing, etc

   a marked man

3. linguistics distinguished by a specific feature, as in phonology. For example, of the two phonemes /t/ and /d/, the /d/ is marked because it exhibits the feature of voice

Other Word Forms

• markedly adverb
• markedness noun
• half-marked adjective
• well-marked adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of marked¹

Middle English; Old English gemearcod; mark ¹, -ed ²

Example Sentences

"And it's as if the ground opened up underneath my feet. Her silence spoke volumes. It marked a point of no-return."

From BBC

But critics said newly-planted trees had failed to grow and buildings marked to become an eco-hotel, distillery and outdoor centre were sold off.

From BBC

Eighteen documents were marked top secret, and one of those sets had the control system protocol “top secret/SCI,” or sensitive compartmented information.

From Salon

Under SB 79, “low-resource” neighborhoods — areas typically marked by higher levels of poverty — also would have the opportunity to secure a delay.

From Los Angeles Times

At 11:15 a white lorry marked "Bomb Disposal" arrived at the scene and went behind the police cordon that had been set up around the synagogue.

From BBC

Related Words

• considerable 
• conspicuous 
• decided 
• distinct 
• notable 
• noticeable 
• pronounced 
• remarkable 
• striking