characterization
Americannoun
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portrayal; description.
the actor's characterization of a politician.
- Synonyms:
- delineation, depiction, representation
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the act of characterizing or describing the individual quality of a person or thing.
-
the creation and convincing representation of fictitious characters, as in a literary work.
noun
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description of character, traits, etc
-
the act of characterizing
Other Word Forms
- recharacterization noun
- self-characterization noun
Etymology
Origin of characterization
1560–70; < Medieval Latin charactērizāt ( us ) marked (past participle of charactērizāre to characterize; -ate 1 ) + Latin -iōn- -ion
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Mr. Klingbeil sounded almost like a supply-sider from the late 1970s or early 1980s, although he’d probably resist that characterization, as most European politicians do.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 2, 2026
Pressed repeatedly by lawmakers, Gabbard declined to directly endorse that characterization, instead arguing that determining what constitutes an imminent threat is ultimately the responsibility of the president.
From Barron's • Mar. 19, 2026
Additional support came from EPFL's shared research facilities for nanofabrication, materials characterization, and high-performance computing, including CMi, MHMC, and SCITAS.
From Science Daily • Mar. 9, 2026
The association rejects ByteDance’s characterization of the infringement as unauthorized use of intellectual property by its users.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 23, 2026
That characterization describes perfectly the course of the relationship between Strauss and Robert Oppenheimer.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
