characterize

UK:*UK and possibly other pronunciationsUK and possibly other pronunciations/ˈkærɪktəraɪz/US:USA pronunciation: IPA and respellingUSA pronunciation: IPA/ˈkærɪktəˌraɪz/ ,USA pronunciation: respelling(karik tə rīz′)

Inflections of 'characterize' (v): (⇒ conjugate)
characterizes
v 3rd person singular (US & UK)
characterizing
v pres p (US & UK)
characterized
v past (US & UK)
characterized
v past p (US & UK)

WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
char•ac•ter•ize /ˈkærɪktəˌraɪz/USA pronunciation   v., -ized, -iz•ing. 
  1. to be a characteristic of:[+ object]Brutality characterizes that horrible dictator.
  2. to describe the character of: [ + obj + as + noun]:[+ object + as]The president characterized that dictator as a scoundrel.[ + obj + as + adjective]:I'd characterize him as crazy.
char•ac•ter•i•za•tion /ˌkærɪktərəˈzeɪʃən/USA pronunciation  n. [countable]an actor's skillful characterizations.[uncountable]unfair characterization of librarians as old maids.

WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025
char•ac•ter•ize  (karik tə rīz′),USA pronunciation v.t., -ized, -iz•ing. 
  1. to mark or distinguish as a characteristic;
    be a characteristic of:Rich metaphors characterize his poetry.
  2. to describe the character or individual quality of:He characterized her in a few well-chosen words.
  3. to attribute character to:to characterize him as a coward.
Also,[esp. Brit.,] charac•ter•ise′. 
  • Greek charaktērízein. See character, -ize
  • Medieval Latin charactērizāre
  • 1585–95
charac•ter•iz′a•ble, adj. 
charac•ter•iz′er, n. 

Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
characterize, characterise / ˈkærɪktəˌraɪz/ (transitive)
  1. to be a characteristic of
  2. to distinguish or mark as a characteristic
  3. to describe or portray the character of
'characterize' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):

Forum discussions with the word(s) "characterize" in the title:


Look up "characterize" at Merriam-Webster
Look up "characterize" at dictionary.com
  • Go to Preferences page and choose from different actions for taps or mouse clicks.

In other languages: Spanish | French | Italian | Portuguese | Romanian | German | Dutch | Swedish | Russian | Polish | Czech | Greek | Turkish | Chinese | Japanese | Korean | Arabic

Advertisements
Advertisements
Report an inappropriate ad.
WordReference.com
WORD OF THE DAY
GET THE DAILY EMAIL!