Distinctive
Distinctive adjective - Serving to identify as belonging to an individual or group.
Usage example: the distinctive odor of a barnyard
Specific is a synonym for distinctive in characteristic topic. In some cases you can use "Specific" instead an adjective "Distinctive", when it comes to topics like typical, single.
Specific
Specific adjective - Of a particular or exact sort.
Usage example: we need a specific type of pen to sign the diplomas
Distinctive is a synonym for specific in typical topic. You can use "Distinctive" instead an adjective "Specific", if it concerns topics such as single.
Mutual synonyms
Related pairs
- characteristic and distinctive
- characteristic and specific
- individual and distinctive
- individual and specific
- special and distinctive
- special and specific
- particular and distinctive
- particular and specific
- typical and distinctive
- typical and specific
- distinguishing and distinctive
- distinguishing and specific
- idiosyncratic and distinctive
- idiosyncratic and specific
Both words in one sentence
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The choice to make clothing culture specific for DS9 worked well for the distinctive styles of the Bajorans, Cardassians, Ferengi, etc, and so they don't look like 90's clothing.
Source: No New Fashions in the Future -
All enemies have specific animations they go through whilst preparing to attack, accompanied by a distinctive three-pronged aura underneath them indicating where they will attack to.
Source: Video Game / Spiral Knights -
The movie is broken into roughly four segments, and the transition between each is a specific event that has a distinctive sound.
Source: Film / Spring Breakers
Cite this Source
Specific and Distinctive. (2016). Retrieved 2026, July 21, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/distinctive/specific
Distinctive & Specific. N.p., 2016. Web. 21 Jul. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/distinctive/specific>.
Specific or Distinctive. 2016. Accessed July 21, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/distinctive/specific.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "distinctive" and "specific" have occurred on timeline