Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of specificity
Explanation
Specificity is the goal of anyone who wants to know — or give — every single detail. If your friend's story is too vague, ask for specificity when things aren't clear. Specificity may look hard to pronounce, but if you remember that the first syllable rhymes with guess, the rest will flow easily: "spes-uh-FIS-uh-tee." Now try specificus, the Latin word at the root of specificity and the word species. Those words may not seem related — until you think about the classification of living things: kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species. Species is the most specific in the hierarchy!
Vocabulary lists containing specificity
What If It's Us
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Top Ten Most Relevant Words from Republican Presidential Candidates' Debate - Nov. 10, 2015
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United States v. Nixon (1974)
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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.
They offered little specificity about how to reduce costs.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 4, 2026
There is something faintly unnerving about the specificity of a corporate reassurance, particularly when it introduces several possibilities you hadn’t thought to worry about.
From Salon ● Nov. 2, 2026
Perez, who works in post-production, and Mohiuddin, who works in communications, both like the specificity they hear in Raman’s comments about homelessness, City Hall accountability and greater urgency in problem-solving.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 31, 2026
"If we use the strengths of fluorescence for molecular specificity and the strength of iISM for label-free context and dynamics, we can really start tackling questions that have been difficult to address before."
From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026
This looks to us like a principle, maxim, or rule of thumb, not a law, because it lacks specificity.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
