distinctive

C1 Topic:Describing Qualities

US /dɪˈstɪŋktɪv/ See IPA manual

Freq #12347

Meanings

1

adj
Having a special quality that makes something easy to recognize.

The singer has a distinctive deep bass voice.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having a special quality... characteristic typical

Word family

Forms distinctively

Derived forms biodistinctivecounterdistinctivedistinctivelydistinctivenessindistinctivenondistinctiveundistinctive

Related forms contradistinctivedistinct distinction distinguish distinguishabledistinguishness

Appears in

Phrases (1)

See all

distinctive feature
a characteristic that clearly sets something apart from others

Adjective + noun

Etymology

From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.

distinctus Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# distinctive

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈstɪŋktɪv/
**Frequency rank:** 12347

## Meanings
1. Having a special quality that makes something easy to recognize.

## Examples
- The singer has a distinctive deep bass voice.

## Derived Forms
- biodistinctive
- counterdistinctive
- distinctively
- distinctiveness
- indistinctive
- nondistinctive
- undistinctive

## Related Forms
- contradistinctive
- distinct
- distinction
- distinguish
- distinguishable
- distinguishness

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: distinctus

## Etymology
From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.

## AI Etymology
Distinctive comes from Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (“to push apart, to divide”), + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus. The historical chain includes distinctus (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as biodistinctive, counterdistinctive, distinctively, and distinctiveness and related forms such as contradistinctive, distinct, and distinction. In present use it covers having a special quality that makes something easy to recognize.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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