specificity

[spes-uh-fis-i-tee]

noun

1. the quality or state of being specific.

2. 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.

Other Word Forms

• nonspecificity noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of specificity¹

First recorded in 1875–80; specific + -ity

Example Sentences

But some experts and many Altadena residents worry that the report’s lack of specificity helps officials dodge accountability and makes it more difficult to ensure that such a catastrophic failure doesn’t happen again.

From Los Angeles Times

Yet his homespun wit and his emotional specificity also bear the influence of the master he describes as his “songwriting GOAT”: John Prine.

From Los Angeles Times

The defined religious and social world, rooted in a cultural specificity, was all the more universal for its vivid particularity.

From Los Angeles Times

The issue, said Bader Al-Saif, an assistant professor of history at Kuwait University, is that there’s little specificity as to what a U.S. security umbrella actually entails.

From Los Angeles Times

“Task” is steeped in the specificity of DelCo — and yes, its signature accent co-stars once again.

From Salon

Related Words

• particularity 
• precision