verb · academic
characterize
UK/ˈkærəktəraɪz/US/ˈkærəktəˌraɪz/CHAR·ac·ter·ize
to describe the main qualities or features that distinguish something or someone
Examples
“Scholars often characterize the period as one of intense social change.”
“The new policy can be characterized by its focus on sustainability.”
“People often characterize her writing as both humorous and critical.”
Band 8 sentence
“Contemporary urban life can be characterized by rapid technological adoption, demographic diversity, and an increasing wage gap.”
Collocations
- be characterized by
- characterize someone/something as + adjective/noun
- common/typical characteristics
Word family
Common mistakes
The city is characterized with many museums.→The city is characterized by many museums.
We can characterize him as a kind person.→We can characterize him as a kind person.
This feature characterize the product.→This feature characterizes the product.
Say it for a higher band
5describe→6depict→7+characterize
Synonyms
describe
portray
Easily confused
describe
“She described the event in detail for the report.”
portray
“The film portrays life in the city with gritty realism.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In -ize
Learn it with its set