DISTINCTIVENESS

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does distinctiveness mean? 

• DISTINCTIVENESS (noun)
  The noun DISTINCTIVENESS has 2 senses:

1. a distinguishing trait

2. utter dissimilarity

  Familiarity information: DISTINCTIVENESS used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DISTINCTIVENESS (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A distinguishing trait

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

distinctiveness; peculiarity; speciality; specialness; specialty

Hypernyms ("distinctiveness" is a kind of...):

individualism; individuality; individuation (the quality of being individual)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "distinctiveness"):

foible; idiosyncrasy; mannerism (a behavioral attribute that is distinctive and peculiar to an individual)

Derivation:

distinctive (of a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing)

distinctive (capable of being classified)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Utter dissimilarity

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Synonyms:

disparateness; distinctiveness

Hypernyms ("distinctiveness" is a kind of...):

dissimilarity; unsimilarity (the quality of being dissimilar)

 Context examples 

As with the genetics that control mating behaviour, these genes enable each butterfly type to maintain its distinctiveness and help ensure long-term survival of the species.

(Butterflies are genetically wired to choose a mate that looks just like them, University of Cambridge)