distinctive

[ dih-stingk-tiv ]

adjective

1. serving to distinguish; characteristic; distinguishing: distinguishing:

   the distinctive stripes of the zebra.

   Synonyms: individual

2. having a special quality, style, attractiveness, etc.; notable.

distinctive

/ dɪˈstɪŋktɪv /

adjective

1. serving or tending to distinguish
2. denoting one of a set of minimal features of a phoneme in a given language that serve to distinguish it from other phonemes. The distinctive features of /p/ in English are that it is voiceless, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive; /b/ is voiced, bilabial, non-nasal, and plosive: the two differ by the distinctive feature of voice

Derived Forms

• disˈtinctively, adverb
• disˈtinctiveness, noun

Other Words From

• dis·tinctive·ly adverb
• dis·tinctive·ness noun
• subdis·tinctive adjective
• subdis·tinctive·ly adverb
• subdis·tinctive·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of distinctive¹

First recorded in 1575–85; from Medieval Latin distinctīvus; equivalent to distinct + -ive

Example Sentences

What does matter is the philosophy that the Mach-E will be distinctive, not generic.

From Popular-Science

I wish schools were better at talking about what makes them distinctive.

From Time

Combined, those efforts made their businesses less distinctive over the years.

From Washington Post

If we did not call it snowfall eve, it still seemed worthy of some distinctive designation.

From Washington Post

Different colonies have distinctive dialects, often varying in frequency, as can be heard by comparing these soft chirps from two separate colonies.

From Science News

He reminisces about the features of Texas life that make Texas its own, distinctive community.

From The Daily Beast

He explains that these casks play a huge role “in the distinctive character of the final whisky.”

From The Daily Beast

There are also multiple vectors of cool, each defined by distinctive attire.

From The Daily Beast

Her distinctive shredding can also sound very disturbed, and the more disturbed, the better.

From The Daily Beast

“This is the world we live in,” he says when I ask whether mens fashion will get more distinctive.

From The Daily Beast

Each is surrounded by a gelatinous capsule, which is its distinctive feature (Fig. 9).

From Project Gutenberg

In estivo-autumnal malaria the gametes take distinctive ovoid and crescentic forms, and are not difficult to recognize.

From Project Gutenberg

The distinction is based chiefly upon etiology, although each type presents a more or less distinctive blood-picture.

From Project Gutenberg

The table on the following page contrasts the distinctive blood-changes in the more common conditions.

From Project Gutenberg

Although of various qualities, they possess the distinctive flavor which characterizes all tobacco used for this purpose.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• cool
• extraordinary
• idiosyncratic
• offbeat
• original
• peculiar
• singular
• special
• weird