characteristic

American  

[kar-ik-tuh-ris-tik] / ˌkær ɪk təˈrɪs tɪk /

adjective

1. Also characteristical. pertaining to, constituting, or indicating the character or peculiar quality of a person or thing; typical; distinctive.

   Red and gold are the characteristic colors of autumn.

   Synonyms:

   peculiar, special

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noun

• characteristics
  plural

1. a distinguishing feature or quality.

   Generosity is his chief characteristic.

   Synonyms:

   trait, property, attribute

2. Mathematics.

   1. the integral part of a common logarithm.

   2. the exponent of 10 in a number expressed in scientific notation.

   3. the smallest positive integer n such that each element of a given ring added to itself n times results in 0.

characteristic British  

/ ˌkærɪktəˈrɪstɪk /

noun

1. a distinguishing quality, attribute, or trait

2. maths

   1. the integral part of a common logarithm, indicating the order of magnitude of the associated number Compare mantissa

      the characteristic of 2.4771 is 2

   2. another name for exponent, used esp in number representation in computing

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adjective

1. indicative of a distinctive quality, etc; typical

characteristic Scientific  

/ kăr′ək-tə-rĭs′tĭk /

1. The part of a logarithm to the base 10 that is to the left of the decimal point. For example, if 2.749 is a logarithm, 2 is the characteristic.

2. Compare mantissa

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Synonym Usage

See feature.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• noncharacteristic
  adjective
• quasi-characteristic
  adjective
• uncharacteristic
  adjective
• characteristically
  adverb
• noncharacteristically
  adverb
• quasi-characteristically
  adverb
• uncharacteristically
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• characteristics
  plural

Etymology

Origin of characteristic

First recorded in 1655–65; from Greek charaktēristikós ( see character, -istic)

Explanation

If something is a characteristic of someone or something, it is a feature you would expect. A characteristic of classical-style architecture is large stone columns. A characteristic of poodles is their pom-pom like tails. A characteristic feature needn't just be a something physically apparent, it can describe a type of personality or atmosphere as well, as in: "The characteristic of all funeral homes is their gloomy air." As their spelling and meaning implies, there is a close link between the words characteristic and character, meaning the essential nature of a thing, and in fact both words come from the ancient Greek kharackter, meaning a "symbol or imprint on the soul."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

characteristic characteristics

He had willed it into existence in his characteristic way, fast and without faultfinding inspectors to impede his vision.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 6, 2026

Surprise is the most important characteristic of markets in the short run.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 29, 2026

The performance will touch on the comedian’s experience moving to Ireland, the challenges of cultural differences and her relationship with her nonbinary child, all filtered through her characteristic humor.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026

In the worm's jaws, sharper changes in strain across tiny regions appear to increase the interlocking of defects within the atomic structure, producing the characteristic size effect.

From Science Daily ● Jul. 16, 2026

With his characteristic incisiveness, Isaac Newton later pointed out the obvious flaw in this idea.

From "The Scientists" by John Gribbin

These characteristics were present throughout my youth and resurfacing.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 7, 2026

Note: The rates in this chart are index rates of workers’ compensation insurance premiums across 50 industry classes and weighted by the characteristics of Oregon’s economy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 2, 2026

The researchers also examined the characteristics of the particles being accelerated, information that may help reveal what kind of object is powering the process.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 2, 2026

Scientists have identified a heat-driven process inside magma that could help explain why volcanoes with similar characteristics sometimes erupt in very different ways.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 1, 2026

What they discovered were new examples of nuclear isomerism, in which isotopes of identical mass numbers and changes show dramatically different radioactive characteristics.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik

Related Words

• aspect
• attribute
• component
• essence
• flavor
• nature
• peculiarity
• personality
• quality
• style
• symptom
• temperament
• tendency
• tone
• virtue