Thesaurus results for CHARACTERIZING

characterizing

verb

present participle of characterize

as in describing

to point out the chief quality or qualities of an individual or group how would you characterize the mission of this environmental organization?

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

as in distinguishing

to be an important feature of an unsightly rash characterizes chicken pox

Synonyms & Similar Words

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of characterizing Guten singled out the defense’s witness, Beatty, as too biased to render an impartial assessment, characterizing the social worker’s testimony as advocacy, not an expert opinion. —

Pamela Colloff, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026 The Hideout also closed for a couple of months beginning in November 2022 after former program director Mykele Deville issued a social media post characterizing the venue as a toxic workplace. —

Adam Harrington, CBS News, 19 Mar. 2026 Albanese had been investigating human rights abuses in Palestinian territories and had started characterizing the Israeli aggression against Palestinians as a genocide. —

Chiara Eisner, NPR, 17 Mar. 2026 So far, lawmakers have been far from receptive to such an idea, with Republicans characterizing the effort as government overreach that would be counter to free-market ideals, one of the officials said. —

Ed Silverman, STAT, 17 Mar. 2026 Film actor Timothée Chalamet recently sparked controversy in the performing arts world by characterizing ballet and opera as dying art forms — not a novel sentiment, of course, but rather the latest foray into an ongoing debate. —

Emily McClanathan, Chicago Tribune, 10 Mar. 2026 Rout has spent decades characterizing yeast pore complexes. —

Yasemin Saplakoglu, Quanta Magazine, 9 Mar. 2026 The latest research indicates that re-evaluation of the methodology of existing assessments for characterizing sea-level rise impact is needed, the paper noted. —

Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 4 Mar. 2026 Some rank-and-file cops also disagreed with how the mayor is characterizing the incident. —

Thomas Tracy, New York Daily News, 25 Feb. 2026

Recent Examples of Synonyms for characterizing

Verb

Brown said, describing a potential tipping point if another paycheck is missed.

— Marvin Hurst, CBS News, 25 Mar. 2026
Studies tell us that hair is among the top three features (along with height and weight) used when describing others, and one of the features most often recalled after a social interaction.

— Valerie Monroe, Allure, 25 Mar. 2026