distinct vs distinctive
Definitions
adjective
- (often followed by `from') not alike; different in nature or quality
- constituting a separate entity or part
- recognizable; marked
- clearly or sharply defined to the mind
- easy to perceive; especially clearly outlined
Examples
In the receding angle below the chin is the hyoid bone, and the finger can be carried along the bone to the tip of the greater cornu, which is on a level with the angle of the mandible: the greater cornu is most readily appreciated by making pressure on one side, when the cornu of the opposite side will be rendered prominent and can be felt distinctly beneath the skin.
If head-to-toe leopard seems a bit too Big Cat Diary to appeal, then a waterproof rucksack or bumbag in the same print are an easy way to add a distinctive touch to a more classic outfit.
This is a movie with a distinct and startling cinematic language, but with uncomfortably coercive mannerisms.
Definitions
adjective
- capable of being classified
- of a feature that helps to distinguish a person or thing
Examples
If head-to-toe leopard seems a bit too Big Cat Diary to appeal, then a waterproof rucksack or bumbag in the same print are an easy way to add a distinctive touch to a more classic outfit.
Only the bishops have retained the augurial staff, called the crosier; which was the distinctive mark of the dignity of augur; so that the symbol of falsehood has become the symbol of truth.
It was a simple rectangle of crudely mounded basalt rocks, a distinctive arrangement reminiscent of the way Samoans and other Polynesians marked their dead in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
