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

The defining question of our age isn’t whether superintelligence will exist, but who will have access to it.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 28, 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

One of Odysseus’ defining triumphs becomes, in Nolan’s telling, something closer to an original sin.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 21, 2026

But creating social cohesion where it is lacking, is surely a defining mission of Burnham's premiership.

From BBC ● Jul. 20, 2026

What was really just a theatrical side show was now being enshrined in memory as the defining moment in the revolutionary drama.

From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis