characteristics
- 1Plural of characteristic.
The report compared the physical characteristics of the two soil samples.
Good leaders often display several common characteristics.
Note
A regular plural, and always a noun: the adjective characteristic never takes an -s, so 'characteristic features' and 'the characteristics' split the work between them. Most often it counts the distinguishing traits of a person or thing, usually with a qualifier such as physical or common. The technical senses take the plural too. A lighthouse's characteristics are its light's color and flash pattern, and mathematicians compare the characteristics of different fields or logarithms.
characteristics is a form of characteristic
characteristic, noun: A distinguishing feature or quality of a person or thing, including an aspect of mental or physical behavior. Full entry
- Forms
- characteristiccharacteristics plural
- Spelling
- characteristic → characteristics: add -s
Use it in a sentence
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