# characteristic vs characteristics

> English confusable word pair

## The two words

### characteristic
*adjective · IPA /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪk/ · frequency rank #7,428*
Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

### characteristics
*noun · IPA /ˌkæɹəktəˈɹɪstɪks/ · frequency rank #4,431*
plural of characteristic

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/vs/characteristic-vs-characteristics