MEANING
1. To describe the qualities that identify a person, thing, or situation.
2. To be a feature that sets something apart.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- characterize the relationship
- characterize a response
On the page
The report characterizes the decline as gradual rather than abrupt.
Nearby words
Word forms
- Base
- characterize
- Past tense
- characterized
- Past participle
- characterized
- Present participle
- characterizing
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- characterize
- Present continuous
- am/is/are characterizing
- Present perfect
- have/has characterized
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been characterizing
- Past
- characterized
- Past continuous
- was/were characterizing
- Past perfect
- had characterized
- Past perfect continuous
- had been characterizing
- Future
- will characterize
- Future continuous
- will be characterizing
- Future perfect
- will have characterized
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been characterizing
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: academic / formal. Forms: characterize; characterizes; characterized; characterized; characterizing Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Writing functions: claim, evidence, interpretation. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: characterizes.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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