defining
Americanadjective
Other Word Forms
Explanation
Something defining is essential to what something is. A defining moment in your life helps makes you what you are. In the dictionary, definitions tell you what words mean, and the similar word defining has to do with what things are too. The defining characteristic of a chair is that you sit on it. The defining feature of food is you can eat it. People have defining features too: if you went to a summer camp and had an amazing time, it could be a defining time in your life. Defining things helps shape and mold us.
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.
Alfonsi said Wednesday that “fearless, independent reporting” was “the defining standard” at “60 Minutes.”
From The Wall Street Journal • May 27, 2026
Damage to myelin is also a defining feature of multiple sclerosis.
From Science Daily • May 27, 2026
She listed literary fiction, memoir, biography, and essay collections as the defining genres of the smaller size books.
From Los Angeles Times • May 27, 2026
They are structural, and a defining feature of his policies, his view of democracy and society, and his relationship to the American people and the world.
From Salon • May 26, 2026
This had led, in turn, to the accident of his being named Gogol, defining and distressing him for so many years.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
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.
