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.
Following the takeover of the club by a US-based consortium, who now face a potentially defining season, the financial argument has quietened somewhat after a supposed £40m spend last season.
From BBC ● Jul. 28, 2026
The second challenge, more daunting in the digital era, is defining who is a journalist.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Hot air balloons have been a defining feature of Bristol's skyline for nearly 60 years.
From BBC ● Jul. 27, 2026
The defining question for AI in this era won’t be who tops the leader board for usage.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 27, 2026
Where the Aristotelian universe had one centre, there were now potentially five different ways of defining the centre of the universe.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
