characterize
Americanverb (used with object)
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characterizes,
present (3rd person singular)
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characterized,
past participle, past
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characterizing
present participle
-
to mark or distinguish as a characteristic; be a characteristic of.
Rich metaphors characterize his poetry.
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to describe the character or individual quality of.
He characterized her in a few well-chosen words.
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to attribute character to.
to characterize him as a coward.
verb
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to be a characteristic of
loneliness characterized the place
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to distinguish or mark as a characteristic
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to describe or portray the character of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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characterizernoun
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mischaracterizeverb (used with object)
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recharacterizeverb (used with object)
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characterizableadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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characterizesimple
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characterizessimple
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have characterizedperfect
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has characterizedperfect
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am characterizingprogressive
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are characterizingprogressive
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is characterizingprogressive
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have been characterizingperfect progressive
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has been characterizingperfect progressive
Past
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characterizedsimple
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had characterizedperfect
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was characterizingprogressive
-
were characterizingprogressive
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had been characterizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of characterize
First recorded in 1585–95; from Medieval Latin charactērizāre, from Greek charaktērízein; see character, -ize
Explanation
To characterize someone is to describe them in a certain way, to try to pin down his or her personality. If you say your dad is stingy, you are characterizing him as a miser. See the word character in characterize? Two meanings of character can help you understand this word. We all have character, meaning we all have unique personalities. Also, characters are people in books, movies, plays, and TV shows. Characterizing has to do with summing up how a person acts in real life or is portrayed in a work of fiction.
Vocabulary lists containing characterize
The SAT: Language of the Test, List 1
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The Language of Standardized Tests, List 1
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Jim Burke's Academic Vocabulary List
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Working together, the two proteins produced the exceptionally long telomeres that characterize melanoma tumors.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 1, 2026
An unapologetic devotee of the outrageous antics and high melodrama which characterize the genre, Oliver said, “Write me a role and I will be on your set so fast it will make your head swim.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 29, 2026
There is no other way to characterize that other than as a disappointment.
From Barron's ● Jun. 3, 2026
But without the proper documentation or court-ordered child support, the Internal Revenue Service could characterize this money as a gift or settlement.
From MarketWatch ● May 16, 2026
About that time he had begun to cultivate the black mustache with waxed tips and the somewhat stentorian voice that would characterize him in the war.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
It characterizes the lower court as engaging in “a string of speculation” about what the federal agencies might do when, and how that speculation illustrates that the state’s claims aren’t ripe for review.
From Slate ● Aug. 25, 2026
Griffin’s countersuit claims that the classmate’s lawsuit characterizes her as “a fraud and a thief.”
From Salon ● Jun. 25, 2026
In 1963 he wrote in one of Rand’s newsletters, “At the bottom of the endless pile of paper work which characterizes all regulation lies a gun.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 22, 2026
“Nothing suggested that the project would falsely accuse Ms. Banks of covering up a sexual assault, or being indifferent to what a contestant characterizes as a traumatic experience.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 16, 2026
The epistemological sloppiness that, in Western culture, characterizes references to experience before the Scientific Revolution is not a necessary characteristic of pre-scientific societies.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Sag characterized Cook’s ongoing involvement as “on-the-job training” for Ternus.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026
It characterized the injury as one arising from “offense, disagreement, or distaste” and reasoned that allowing such an interest to establish standing could permit citizens to challenge virtually any government project that offends their sensibilities.
From Slate ● Sep. 1, 2026
During the trial, Sanft, Davis's attorney, characterized his client's confessions as fiction and lies partly designed to promote his book.
From Barron's ● Aug. 31, 2026
He offered no similar ambiguity about what he believed should happen when a journalist characterized that record differently.
From Salon ● Aug. 30, 2026
In it Mantell was characterized as a mediocre anatomist whose modest contributions to paleontology were limited by a "want of exact knowledge."
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
"CMDR's laboratory is equipped with state-of-the-art chemical instrumentation for quantifying and characterizing microplastics in environmental samples," explains Lynch.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 28, 2026
Working evenings at the Harlem Hospital, he invented a method for characterizing bacterial organisms in patients with pneumonia, publishing his first paper at the age of 21.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
So do the bubblelike conditions that seem to be characterizing the U.S. stock market and private credit market.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
“It was a musical that was revolutionary and changed the game,” he said, characterizing the show as “a rock concert where a play breaks out.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2026
The testimony the experts would provide would also be very direct in characterizing his disabilities and illness.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
