1
[ verb ] describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of

Examples

"You can characterize his behavior as that of an egotist" "This poem can be characterized as a lament for a dead lover"

Used in print

Mr._Siepi was , as always , a consummate actor ; with a_few telling strokes he characterized Alvise magnificently .

(Arthur S. Miller, "Toward a Concept of National...)

This was particularly true in the world arena , which was an anarchical battleground characterized by strife and avaricious competition for colonial empires .

2
[ verb ] be characteristic of

Synonyms

characterise

Examples

"What characterizes a Venetian painting?"

Used in print

(William G. Pollard, Physicist and Christian....)

The conversation of the characters creates an atmosphere suggesting the usual mixture of pleasures , foibles , irritations , and concerns which would characterize the common life of a normal village in any age .

(Schubert Ogden, Christ Without Myth....)

The same thing is also evidenced by the extreme `` culture Protestantism '' so often observed to characterize the preaching and teaching of the American churches .

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