Showing results for "defining"

• present participle of define.

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

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

See Examples For:

defining

He has accomplished this by completely disregarding what has become one of the defining trends of modern baseball.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 18, 2026

"An overly dry spring and a heatwave in the second half of June were defining factors" leading to what the group described as a "below-average grain harvest" forecast at 41.9 million tonnes.

From Barron's ● Aug. 18, 2026

Something new to listen to: Six years ago, indie rocker Phoebe Bridgers’ last solo album became one of the defining records of the decade.

From Slate ● Aug. 14, 2026

"This research adds to a growing body of work establishing that even severely aphasic individuals can preserve their ability for abstract logical thought -- a defining feature of our species," Fedorenko says.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

This wasn’t just about record-buying preferences, either: being a composer in the twentieth century meant making career- defining choices that simply were not relevant to earlier generations.

From "The Story of Music" by Howard Goodall