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discriminating

American  
[dih-skrim-uh-ney-ting] / dɪˈskrɪm əˌneɪ tɪŋ /

adjective

  1. able to distinguish differences or distinctions; differentiating; analytic.

  2. noting differences or distinctions with nicety; discerning; perspicacious.

    a discriminating interpreter of events.

  3. having excellent taste or judgment.

    a discriminating interior designer.

  4. differential, as a tariff.

  5. possessing distinctive features; capable of being differentiated; discriminative.

discriminating British  
/ dɪˈskrɪmɪˌneɪtɪŋ /

adjective

  1. able to see fine distinctions and differences

  2. discerning in matters of taste

  3. (of a tariff, import duty, etc) levied at differential rates in order to favour or discourage imports or exports

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Word Forms

  • discriminatingly adverb
  • half-discriminating adjective
  • half-discriminatingly adverb
  • nondiscriminating adjective
  • nondiscriminatingly adverb
  • overdiscriminating adjective
  • overdiscriminatingly adverb
  • quasi-discriminating adjective
  • quasi-discriminatingly adverb
  • undiscriminating adjective
  • undiscriminatingly adverb

Etymology

Origin of discriminating

First recorded in 1640–50; discriminat(e) + -ing 2

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.