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characteristic, distinctive, typical

A characteristic quality is one that distinguishes and identifies.

  • The Deputy Minister always included that characteristic flourish at the end of her memorandums.

A distinctive feature denotes an attribute that sets a thing or person apart from a type or group.

  • The unit has a distinctive approach to training and development.

Typical relates to the characteristics peculiar to the type, class, species or group to which a thing or person belongs.

  • The weather was typical of an October day in Ottawa: cool, clear and colourful.