specific
adjective · noun
Simple meaning
Clearly and exactly stated, or meant for a particular purpose
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spuhsifikSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
spəˈsɪfɪk
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.
adjective
sometimes in combinationsometimes followed by `to'
Applying to or characterized by or distinguishing something particular or special or unique
sometimes in combination
Special, distinctive or unique.
Serving to identify a particular thing (often a disease or condition), with little risk of mistaking something else for it.
Intended for, or applying to, a particular thing.
Being or affecting a disease produced by a particular microorganism or condition; used also of stains or dyes used in making microscope slides
“Quinine is highly specific for malaria.”
Being a remedy for a particular disease on a deeper level, rather than just masking the symptoms
noun
A distinguishing attribute or quality.
in the plural
The details; particulars.
A medicine that has a mitigating effect on a specific disease
“Quinine is a specific for malaria.”
A remedy for a specific disease or condition.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- A1 · Beginner (estimated)
- Frequency
- Very Common
- Typical Use
- Everyday English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (sometimes followed by `to') applying to or characterized by or distinguishing something particular or special or unique
Used this way, specific 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
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Serving / affectingadjective
“Quinine is highly specific for malaria.”
Medicine / remedynoun
“Quinine is a specific for malaria.”
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
Similar Words, What’s the Difference?
Close in meaning, but not always interchangeable.
Distinguished by a unique, particular, or unusual quality.
For a particular purpose.
Distinguished in some way.
Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Word family
Words built from the same root.
Someone who draws up specifications giving details (as for obtaining a patent).
In distinction from others.
Specify as a condition or requirement in a contract or agreement.
Compound terms
Established multiword terms.
The performance of a legal contract as specified by its terms.
The heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of a substance one degree centigrade.
The density of a substance relative to the density of water.
A protein manufactured exclusively by the prostate gland.
Related words
Connected by subject or meaning, not by word formation.
The quality of being specific rather than general.
More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Antonyms
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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.