Meanings
comparative more distinctive · superlative most distinctive
- Distinguishing, used to or enabling the distinguishing of some thing.
a product in distinctive packaging
1 more example
Our Apparell was giuen vs as a signe distinctiue to discern betwixt sex and sex.
1583, Philip Stubbes, The Anatomie of Abuses, Folio V - rareDiscriminating, discerning, having the ability to distinguish between things.
[…]more judicious and distinctive heads...
1650, Thomas Browne, chapter 3, in Pseudodoxia Epidemica: […], 2nd edition, London: […] A[braham] Miller, for Edw[ard] Dod and Nath[aniel] Ekins, […], →OCLC, 2nd book, page 75 - Characteristic, typical.
his distinctive bass voice
1 more example
Wordsworth's distinctive work was a war with pomp and pretence, and a display of the majesty of simple feelings and humble hearts.
1856, John Ruskin, Modern Painters […], volume III, London: Smith, Elder and Co., […], →OCLC, part IV (Of Many Things), page 293 - rareDistinguished, being distinct in character or position.
The refugees... at length ceased to exist as a distinctive body among the people.
1867, Samuel Smiles, chapter XVII, in The Huguenots, page 432 - HebrewgrammarUsed to separate clauses in place of stops.
These are the main distinctive accents, and by stopping at them... the reader will do justice to the sense.
1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, page 27 - human sciencesDistinguishing a particular sense of word.
Normally we symbolize only phonemes (distinctive features) so far as we can determine them.
1927, L. Bloomfield et al., Language, number 3, page 129
plural distinctives
- A distinctive thing: a quality or property permitting distinguishing; a characteristic.
...the red umbrella, the distinctive of royalty here...
1816, Maurice Keatinge, Travels through France and Spain to Morocco, volume I, page 189 - HebrewgrammarA distinctive accent.
A distinctive of less power than Zakeph is Ṭiphḥâ.
1874, Andrew Bruce Davidson, Introductory Hebrew Grammar, page 27 - lifestyleA distinctive belief, tenet, or dogma of a denomination or sect.
Mennonites could go forth somewhat detached from the chauvinism of Western culture—but not so from the Mennonite distinctives.
1979, Theron F. Schlabach, “Gospel versus Gospel”, in Studies in Anabaptist and Mennonite History, page 154
Synonyms & antonyms
adjectiveof a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing
adjectivecapable of being classified
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindistinctus
- Englishdistinctive
From Latin distinctus, perfect passive participle of distinguere (to push apart, to divide; see distinct) + -ive (forming adjectives signifying relation or tendency to). Cognate with French distinctif and Medieval Latin distinctivus.
More words from Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian характерен, отличи́телен
- характерен (harakteren)characteristic — see also characteristic
- отличи́телен (otličítelen)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
Catalan distintiu
- distintiudistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Danish karakteristisk, distinktiv
- karakteristiskcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- distinktivdistinguishing — see also distinguishing
- særegendistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Finnish tyypillinen, luonteenomainen
- tyypillinencharacteristic — see also characteristic
- luonteenomainencharacteristic — see also characteristic
- persoonallinencharacteristic — see also characteristic
- tunnusomainendistinguishing — see also distinguishing
- erottavadistinguishing — see also distinguishing
- omaleimainendistinguishing — see also distinguishing
French distinctif
- distinctifdistinguishing — see also distinguishing
German kennzeichnend, charakteristisch
- kennzeichnendcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- charakteristischcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- unverwechselbarcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- ausgeprägtcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- unverkennbardistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Hungarian ismertető
- ismertetődistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Māori kōhure
- kōhuredistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Norwegian Bokmål særpreget, særpreget
- særpregetcharacteristic — see also characteristic
- særpregetdistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Polish charakterystyczny, wyróżniający
- charakterystycznycharacteristic — see also characteristic
- wyróżniającydistinguishing — see also distinguishing
- odróżniającydistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Romanian distinctiv
- distinctivdistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Russian осо́бенный, осо́бый
- осо́бенный (osóbennyj)characteristic — see also characteristic
- осо́бый (osóbyj)characteristic — see also characteristic
- характе́рный (xaraktérnyj)characteristic — see also characteristic
- типи́чный (tipíčnyj)characteristic — see also characteristic
- отличи́тельный (otličítelʹnyj)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
- характе́рный (xaraktérnyj)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
- характеристи́ческий (xarakteristíčeskij)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
- дифференциа́льный (differenciálʹnyj)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
- различи́тельный (različítelʹnyj)distinguishing — see also distinguishing
Spanish distintivo, definitorio
- distintivocharacteristic — see also characteristic
- definitoriocharacteristic — see also characteristic
- característicocharacteristic — see also characteristic
Turkish farklı
- farklıdistinguishing — see also distinguishing
Cite this entry
distinctive. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distinctive
“distinctive.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distinctive. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “distinctive,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/distinctive.
Source: distinctive on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.