distinctive
Americanadjective
-
serving to distinguish; characteristic; distinguishing.
the distinctive stripes of the zebra.
- Synonyms:
- individual
-
having a special quality, style, attractiveness, etc.; notable.
adjective
-
serving or tending to distinguish
-
denoting one of a set of minimal features of a phoneme in a given language that serve to distinguish it from other phonemes. The distinctive features of /p/ in English are that it is voiceless, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive; /b/ is voiced, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive: the two differ by the distinctive feature of voice
Other Word Forms
- distinctively adverb
- distinctiveness noun
- subdistinctive adjective
- subdistinctively adverb
- subdistinctiveness noun
Etymology
Origin of distinctive
First recorded in 1575–85; from Medieval Latin distinctīvus; equivalent to distinct + -ive
Explanation
Her big eyes and plump lips are distinctive features that make her a great model. These are just some of the special features that distinguish her. You might recognize the Latin prefix dis in the adjective distinctive. Dis often means "apart" or "away." Think of this when trying to remember the word distinctive. Someone with distinctive features has features that set them "apart" from others. Yes, its stepped-back architecture and distinctive spire are among the Empire State Building's distinctive features, but its most distinctive feature has to be its height: for decades there wasn't another building in New York that came close!
Vocabulary lists containing distinctive
The Giver
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Walk Two Moons
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The Breadwinner
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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.
The author’s distinctive storytelling is rooted in his background.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 16, 2026
"Traci has carved out a distinctive niche by leading with professionalism, precision and purpose," says Holloway.
From BBC • Apr. 8, 2026
Instead, it belongs to a group related to modern Nautilus, marine animals that have multiple tentacles and a distinctive external shell.
From Science Daily • Apr. 7, 2026
"It's very distinctive and no human eyes previously had seen this crater until today, really, when we were privileged enough to see it," Koch said during the question-and-answer session hosted by the Canadian Space Agency.
From Barron's • Apr. 5, 2026
Indeed, I am unaware of anyone’s even seriously suggesting any supposed distinctive biological features of the region’s peoples that might have contributed to the potency of its food production package.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
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.
