distinction

1 exceptionally high quality a shop selling native handicrafts of distinction Synonyms choiceness, excellence, excellency, first-rateness, greatness, perfection, preeminence, primeness, superbness, superiority, supremacyRelated Words faultlessness, flawlessness, impeccability, perfectness; goodness, value, worth; consequence, importance, notabilityNear Antonyms averageness, badness, crumminess, inferiority, mediocrity, ordinariness, worthlessness

2 a quality that gives something special worth has the distinction of being the oldest house in the city Synonyms cardinal virtue, excellence, excellency, grace, merit, value, virtueRelated Words advantage, edge, plus, superiorityNear Antonyms blemish, defect, failing, fault, flaw; drawback, minus, negativeAntonyms deficiency, demerit, disvalue

3 public acknowledgment or admiration for an achievement I did all of the work, and the other guy got all the distinction Synonyms acclaim, accolade, applause, bay(s), credit, glory, homage, honor, kudos, laud, laurels, props [slang], réclame, sunRelated Words celebrity, fame, renown, repute; compliment, encomium, eulogy, panegyric, toast, tribute; acclamation, ovation, plaudit, praise, rave, rhapsody; citation, commendation, kudo, note, recommendation; elevation, enshrinement, enthronement, exaltation, glorification

4 the fact or state of being above others in rank or importance a number of physicians of national distinction serve on the staff of the teaching hospital Synonyms eminence, dominance, noteworthiness, paramountcy, preeminence, preponderance, preponderancy, prepotency, prestigiousness, primacy, superiority, supremacy, transcendenceRelated Words celebrity, fame, famousness, glory, honor, kudos, renown, reputation, repute; megastardom, stardom, superstardom; greatness, illustriousness, nobleness, notableness; ascendance (also ascendence), ascendancy (also ascendency), authority, domination, dominion; influence, power, prestige, weight; infamy, notorietyNear Antonyms insignificance; inferiority, mediocrity; obscureness, obscurity

5 something given in recognition of achievement won a number of distinctions in her long career as an actress Synonyms accolade, blue ribbon, decoration, award, honor, kudo, plume, premium, prizeRelated Words badge, crown, cup, laurel, medal, order, plaque, plate, ribbon, trophy; applause, bravo, encomium, eulogy, hallelujah, homage, paean, panegyric, plaudit, tribute; citation, commendation, compliment, honorable mention

6 the quality or state of being different the distinction between the two photographic prints escapes me Synonyms contrast, disagreement, discrepancy, disparateness, disparity, dissimilarity, dissimilitude, distance, difference, distinctiveness, distinctness, diverseness, diversity, otherness, unlikenessRelated Words deviance, divergence; differentiability, discriminability, distinguishability; change, modification, variation; conflict, discord, discordance, dissension (also dissention), dissent, dissidence, disunity, friction, strife; variability, variance; anomalousness, dichotomy, incompatibility, incongruence, incongruity, incongruousness, nonconformity; disproportion, imbalance, inequality, nonequivalenceNear Antonyms identicalness, identity; accordance, agreement, conformity, congruity, correspondence, parallelism, similitude; equality, equivalence, equivalency; homogeneity, homogeneousness, uniformityAntonyms alikeness, analogousness, analogy, community, likeness, resemblance, sameness, similarity

7 the state of being kept distinct the distinction between liberty and license is often violated in today's freewheeling society Synonyms demarcation, discreteness, discrimination, separationRelated Words differentiation; isolation, segregationNear Antonyms blurring, confusion