specificity

[ spes-uh-fis-i-tee ]

/ ˌspɛs əˈfɪs ɪ ti /

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See synonyms for specificity on Thesaurus.com

noun

the quality or state of being specific.

Biochemistry, Pharmacology. the selective attachment or influence of one substance on another, as an antibiotic and its target organism or an antibody and its specific antigen.

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Which sentence is correct?

His boss, whom he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

His boss, who he admires, is waiting to meet with him about the big project.

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Origin of specificity

First recorded in 1875–80; specific + -ity

OTHER WORDS FROM specificity

non·spec·i·fic·i·ty, noun

Words nearby specificity

specific gravity, specific heat, specific heat capacity, specific humidity, specific impulse, specificity, specific name, specific performance, specific phobia, specific resistance, specific viscosity

How to use specificity in a sentence

Nonetheless, there is shocking specificity in the functional match.
Deep Neural Networks Help to Explain Living Brains|Anil Ananthaswamy|October 28, 2020|Quanta Magazine
The enzymes could be designed to target longer sequences with more specificity, but that was a much more arduous and complex process than it is with CRISPR.
Nobel Prize in Chemistry Awarded for CRISPR ‘Genetic Scissors’|Jordana Cepelewicz|October 7, 2020|Quanta Magazine
For example, if an advertiser wants to find a person with a specific job, age and gender through a display banner, it’s likely impossible, she said, and no publisher is going to be able to achieve that specificity on their own.
‘Ripped the Band-Aid on some hard decisions’: How The New York Times is reshaping its ad business for a cookie-less world|Kayleigh Barber|September 21, 2020|Digiday
Custom audiences can give you more flexibility and specificity with your targeting and are designed to automatically choose the right audience based on the inputs you provide and your campaign goal and bid strategy.
Google custom audiences, the combo of custom affinity and custom intent audiences, now live|Ginny Marvin|September 14, 2020|Search Engine Land

That lack of specificity may be to protect the sources who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Did Trump call US war dead “losers” and “suckers”? The controversy, explained.|Alex Ward|September 4, 2020|Vox
He cast himself, he cast lovers, ex-lovers, friends, collaborators, and his films became famous for their bantering specificity.
He’s Still Older, Even in the Moonlight: Woody Allen’s May-December Romances Inspire Scrutiny|Teo Bugbee|July 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But everything in Abbudin feels willfully generic, as if even the tiniest hint of specificity might give offense.
Generic and Superficial ‘Tyrant’ Amerisplains the Middle East|Andrew Romano|June 25, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Alchemical songs that achieve pop universality through personal specificity.
Remembering Weezer’s ‘The Blue Album,’ A Garage Rock Classic, on Its 20th Anniversary|Andrew Romano|May 10, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The specificity of the reporting instructions are strangely comforting… follow these steps exactly, and you will live.
Telling My Family That I’m Leaving Again for Afghanistan|Nick Willard|April 9, 2014|DAILY BEAST
A judge eventually threw out the suit, concluding that the charges “lacked specificity.”
Dinesh D’Souza’s Series of Unfortunate Events|David Sessions|January 24, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The fact of specificity is supported by the fact of constancy of forms.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb
The first phenomenon which strikes us in this connection is again a phenomenon of specificity.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb
These experiments were made at a time when the nature and bearing of the problem of specificity was not yet fully recognized.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb
The method thus shows the existence of not an absolute but of a strong quantitative specificity of blood serum.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb
The Bordet reaction was not only useful in indicating the specificity and blood relationship for animals but also among plants.
The Organism as a Whole|Jacques Loeb