specificity
noun
Simple meaning
The extent to which a characteristic is specific to a given person, place.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
spehsuhfisuhteeSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
spɛsəˈfɪsəti
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
The extent to which a characteristic is specific to a given person, place, or thing; thus
The quality of being specific rather than general
medicine
The extent to which a particular diagnostic test is specific for, or a symptom or sign is specific to, a given condition.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- B2 · Upper Intermediate (estimated)
- Frequency
- Moderately Common
- Typical Use
- Neutral / general English
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The extent to which a characteristic is specific to a given person, place, or thing; thus
Used this way, specificity 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.
More ways to use specificity
- “Add a desirable note of specificity to the discussion.”noun
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.
A detailed description of design criteria for a piece of work.
In distinction from others.
Use This Word
See how this word sounds in a real sentence.
Ask Vocabaura
Understand the word your way.
What Does It Mean Here?
Words can change meaning depending on context.
Use it yourself
Knowing “specificity” 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.