defining

American  

[dih-fahy-ning] / dɪˈfaɪ nɪŋ /

adjective

1. decisive; critically important.

   Taking a course in architecture was a defining turn in her life.

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Other Word Forms

• nondefining adjective
• self-defining adjective

Example Sentences

The Law Commission said the current rules for defining "unfitness" were formulated in 1836, adding they were now outdated and did not take modern medical understandings of capacity into account.

From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026

The splitter had been the defining pitch of the 1980s and the trend continued into the 1990s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 4, 2026

“Job stability has become the defining feature of today’s workforce,” they wrote.

From MarketWatch • Apr. 3, 2026

This discovery fills that gap and provides direct evidence of when these defining features first appeared.

From Science Daily • Apr. 3, 2026

But Newton’s genius involved defining these terms rigorously and linking them to each other via a nest of equations—thereby launching the science of mechanics.

From "The Gene" by Siddhartha Mukherjee