CHARACTERIZE

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 Dictionary entry overview: What does characterize mean? 

• CHARACTERIZE (verb)
  The verb CHARACTERIZE has 2 senses:

1. describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of

2. be characteristic of

  Familiarity information: CHARACTERIZE used as a verb is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• CHARACTERIZE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they characterize    ... he / she / it characterizes   
Past simple: characterized   
Past participle: characterized   
-ing form: characterizing   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Describe or portray the character or the qualities or peculiarities of

Classified under:

Verbs of telling, asking, ordering, singing

Synonyms:

characterise; characterize; qualify

Context example:

This poem can be characterized as a lament for a dead lover

Hypernyms (to "characterize" is one way to...):

remember; think of (keep in mind for attention or consideration)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "characterize"):

differentiate; distinguish; mark (be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense)

stamp (reveal clearly as having a certain character)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

character (a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something)

characterization (the act of describing distinctive characteristics or essential features)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Be characteristic of

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Synonyms:

characterise; characterize

Context example:

What characterizes a Venetian painting?

Hypernyms (to "characterize" is one way to...):

differentiate; distinguish; mark (be a distinctive feature, attribute, or trait; sometimes in a very positive sense)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "characterize"):

individuate (give individual character to)

define (determine the nature of)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s somebody
Something ----s something

Derivation:

character (a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something)

 Context examples 

The phase of a disease characterized by laboratory and clinical findings that indicate rapid progression.

(Accelerated Phase of Disease, NCI Thesaurus)

A disorder characterized by greater growth than expected for age.

(Accelerated Growth, NCI Thesaurus/CTCAE)

A rare autosomal recessive disorder characterized by deficiency of catalase in the peripheral blood.

(Acatalasemia, NCI Thesaurus)

A morphologic variant of lung adenocarcinoma characterized by the presence of acinar structures composed of columnar or cuboidal cells.

(Acinar Lung Adenocarcinoma, NCI Thesaurus)

A variant of acinar prostate adenocarcinoma characterized by the presence of malignant cells with abundant xanthomatous appearing cytoplasm.

(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Foamy Gland Variant, NCI Thesaurus)

A variant of acinar prostate adenocarcinoma characterized by the presence of neoplastic large glands that resemble the benign, non-neoplastic prostate glands.

(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Pseudohyperplastic Variant, NCI Thesaurus)

A variant of acinar prostate adenocarcinoma characterized by the presence of malignant large cells with granular eosinophilic cytoplasm.

(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Oncocytic Variant, NCI Thesaurus)

A variant of prostate carcinoma characterized by the presence of malignant cells forming syncytial patterns and dense lymphocytic infiltrates.

(Acinar Prostate Adenocarcinoma, Lymphoepithelioma-Like Variant, NCI Thesaurus)

A rare neurofibroma characterized by the presence of melanin-laden cells and the absence of atypia.

(Melanotic Neurofibroma, NCI Thesaurus)

An abscess is characterized histologically by sheet-like infiltration of neutrophils, with a cavity formed in areas of frank tissue destruction.

(Abscess of the Mouse Prostate Gland, NCI Thesaurus/MMHCC)