What does "defining" mean?

any process serving to define the shape of something

Defining

Q: What is a synonym for "defining"?

Common synonyms include: categorical, characteristic, classificational, classificatory, confining, definitive.

adj, verb

adj, verb ·3 syllables ·Uncommon ·Advanced level

Definitions

Noun

1
any process serving to define the shape of something wordnet

Verb

1
present participle and gerund of define form-of, gerund, participle, present

Adjective

1
Serving to define or distinguish.
"The ability to reproduce is a defining characteristic of living organisms."

Synonyms

All synonyms

categorical characteristic classificational classificatory confining definitive

Example

More examples

"It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this day, in this election, at this defining moment, change has come to America."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.