characterize
verb/ˈkærəktəraɪz/
/ˈkærəktəraɪz/
(British English also characterise)
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they characterize | /ˈkærəktəraɪz/ /ˈkærəktəraɪz/ |
| he / she / it characterizes | /ˈkærəktəraɪzɪz/ /ˈkærəktəraɪzɪz/ |
| past simple characterized | /ˈkærəktəraɪzd/ /ˈkærəktəraɪzd/ |
| past participle characterized | /ˈkærəktəraɪzd/ /ˈkærəktəraɪzd/ |
| -ing form characterizing | /ˈkærəktəraɪzɪŋ/ /ˈkærəktəraɪzɪŋ/ |
- characterize somebody/something to be typical of a person, place or thing
- the rolling hills that characterize this part of England
- The city is characterized by tall modern buildings in steel and glass.
- to describe or show the qualities of somebody/something in a particular way
- characterize somebody/something How would you characterize the mood of the 1990s?
- characterize somebody/something as something Her political views have been characterized as ‘extreme’.
Word Originlate 16th cent. (in the sense ‘engrave, inscribe’): from French caractériser or medieval Latin characterizare, from Greek kharaktērizein, from kharaktēr ‘a stamping tool’.
Check pronunciation:
characterize