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Demeanor vs Characteristic - What's the difference?

demeanor | characteristic |

As nouns the difference between demeanor and characteristic

is that demeanor is the social, non-verbal behaviours (such as body language and facial expressions) that are characteristic of a person while characteristic is a distinguishable feature of a person or thing.

As an adjective characteristic is

being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.

demeanor

English

Alternative forms

* demeanour (British spelling)

Noun

  • The social, non-verbal behaviours (such as body language and facial expressions) that are characteristic of a person.
  • The man's demeanor made others suspicious of his intentions.
    A confident demeanor is crucial for persuading others.
  • * {{quote-book, a. 1587, , Historie of England, section=Book III citation
  • , passage=At this present (saith he) certeine princes of Britaine, procuring by ambassadors and dutifull demeanors the amitie of the emperour Augustus, haue offered in the capitoll vnto the gods presents or gifts, and haue ordeined the whole Ile in a manner to be appertinent, proper, and familiar to the Romans.}}
  • * {{quote-book, 1993, editor=John J. Fay, chapter=Interrogation: The Kinesics Technique, , Encyclopedia of Security Management, isbn=0750696605 citation
  • , passage=Demeanors' that are apologetic and overly polite are inherently contradictory to ' demeanors that exhibit fear and anger.}}

    Synonyms

    * behavior * comportment

    Anagrams

    * *

    characteristic

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Being a distinguishing feature of a person or thing.
  • * , chapter=12
  • , title= The Mirror and the Lamp , passage=All this was extraordinarily distasteful to Churchill. It was ugly, gross. Never before had he felt such repulsion when the vicar displayed his characteristic bluntness or coarseness of speech. In the present connexion […] such talk had been distressingly out of place.}}

    Synonyms

    * distinctive * exclusive * idiosyncratic * indicative * representative * signature * specific * typical

    Antonyms

    * uncharacteristic * untypical

    Derived terms

    * characteristic function * characteristicness

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • a distinguishable feature of a person or thing
  • (mathematics) the integer part of a logarithm
  • (nautical) the distinguishing features of a navigational light on a lighthouse etc by which it can be identified (colour, pattern of flashes etc)
  • (algebra, field theory) The minimum number of times that the unit of a field must be added unto itself in order to yield that field's zero, or, if that minimum natural number does not exist, then (the integer) zero.
  • A field's characteristic, if non-zero, must be a prime number.

    Synonyms

    * attribute * idiosyncrasy * mannerism * quality * tendency * trademark * trait * See also

    Derived terms

    * defining characteristic

    See also

    * mantissa