descriptor
noun
Simple meaning
The phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihskripterSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪskˈɹɪptɚ
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
That which describes; a word, phrase, etc. serving as a description.
linguistics
The phonological or orthographic sound or appearance of a word that can be used to describe or identify something
computinginformation science
A piece of stored information that is used to identify an item in an information storage and retrieval system
computinginformation science
A name associated with certain data or documents in an information storage and retrieval system; an index term.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Varies by meaning
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: That which describes; a word, phrase, etc. serving as a description.
Used this way, descriptor is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
Share your sentence
Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Serving to describe or inform or characterized by description.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “descriptor” starts when you use it. Pick a next step, all free.
Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.