character
Other forms: characters; charactered; charactering
When Martin Luther King, Jr. said he looked forward to the day when all Americans would be judged solely "by the content of their character," he was talking about a person's essential qualities.
"Just because you are a character doesn't mean you have character," a guy called The Wolf advises a young woman named Raquel in Quentin Tarantino's Pulp Fiction. The line illustrates three different senses of the word, which can mean "moral strength or reputation" (what Raquel lacks), "a person in a work of fiction" (what The Wolf and Raquel literally are), or, by extension, "a colorful personality" (what Raquel has). A fourth usage is "the distinctive nature of a person or thing," a meaning reflected in the word's origins. In Greek, a kharaktēr was a stamping tool, used to give something a distinctive mark.
Definitions of character
-
a characteristic property that defines the apparent individual nature of something
-
the inherent complex of attributes that determines a person's moral and ethical actions and reactions“"education has for its object the formation of character"- Herbert Spencer”
-
types:
-
spirit
a fundamental emotional and activating principle determining one's character
-
braveness, bravery, courage, courageousness
a quality of spirit that enables you to face danger or pain without showing fear
-
cowardice, cowardliness
the trait of lacking courage
-
type of:
-
trait
a distinguishing feature of your personal nature
-
spirit
-
good repute“he is a man of character”
-
type of:
-
reputation, repute
the state of being held in high esteem and honor
-
reputation, repute
-
a formal recommendation by a former employer to a potential future employer describing the person's qualifications and dependability“requests for character references are all too often answered evasively”
-
synonyms:
character reference, reference
-
type of:
-
good word, recommendation, testimonial
something that recommends (or expresses commendation of) a person or thing as worthy or desirable
-
good word, recommendation, testimonial
-
a person of a specified kind (usually with many eccentricities)
-
an imaginary person represented in a work of fiction (play or film or story)“she is the main character in the novel”
-
synonyms:
fictional character, fictitious character
-
examples:
- show 82 examples...
- hide 82 examples...
-
Aladdin
in the Arabian Nights a boy who acquires a magic lamp from which he can summon a genie
-
Argonaut
(Greek mythology) one of the heroes who sailed with Jason in search of the Golden Fleece
-
Babar
an imaginary elephant that appears in a series of French books for children
-
Beatrice
the woman who guided Dante through Paradise in the Divine Comedy
-
Beowulf
the legendary hero of an anonymous Old English epic poem composed in the early 8th century; he slays a monster and becomes king but dies fighting a dragon
-
Bluebeard
(fairytale) a monstrous villain who marries seven women; he kills the first six for disobedience
-
James Bond
British secret operative 007 in novels by Ian Fleming
-
Brer Rabbit
the fictional character of a rabbit who appeared in tales supposedly told by Uncle Remus and first published in 1880
-
Paul Bunyan
a legendary giant lumberjack of the north woods of the United States and Canada
-
John Henry
hero of American folk tales; portrayed as an enormously strong black man who worked on the railroads and died from exhaustion after winning a contest with a steam drill
-
Cheshire cat
a fictional cat with a broad fixed smile on its face; created by Lewis Carroll
-
Chicken Little
a fictional character who was hit on the head with an acorn and believed that the sky was falling
-
Cinderella
a fictional young girl who is saved from her stepmother and stepsisters by her fairy godmother and a handsome prince
-
Colonel Blimp
a pompous reactionary cartoon character created by Sir David Low
-
Dracula
fictional vampire in a gothic horror novel by Bram Stoker
-
Don Quixote
the hero of a romance by Cervantes; chivalrous but impractical
-
El Cid
the hero of a Spanish epic poem from the 12th century
-
Fagin
a villain in a novel by Charles Dickens
-
Sir John Falstaff
a dissolute character in Shakespeare's plays
-
Father Brown
a Catholic priest who was the hero of detective stories by G. K. Chesterton
-
Faustus
an alchemist of German legend who sold his soul to Mephistopheles in exchange for knowledge
-
Frankenstein
the fictional Swiss scientist who was the protagonist in a gothic novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley; he created a monster from parts of corpses
-
Frankenstein's monster
the monster created by Frankenstein in a gothic novel by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (the creator's name is commonly used to refer to his creation)
-
Goofy
a cartoon character created by Walt Disney
-
Gulliver
a fictional Englishman who travels to the imaginary land of Lilliput in a satirical novel by Jonathan Swift
-
Hamlet
the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy who hoped to avenge the murder of his father
-
Captain Horatio Hornblower
a fictional English admiral during the Napoleonic Wars in novels written by C. S. Forester
-
Iago
the villain in William Shakespeare's tragedy who tricked Othello into murdering his wife
-
Commissaire Maigret
a fictional detective in novels by Georges Simenon
-
Kilroy
a nonexistent person popularized by American servicemen during World War II
-
King Lear
the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy who was betrayed and mistreated by two of his scheming daughters
-
Lilliputian
a 6-inch tall inhabitant of Lilliput in a novel by Jonathan Swift
-
Philip Marlowe
tough cynical detective (one of the early detective heroes in American fiction) created by Raymond Chandler
-
Wilkins Micawber
fictional character created by Charles Dickens; an eternal optimist
-
Mother Goose
the imaginary author of a collection of nursery rhymes
-
Mr. Moto
Japanese sleuth created by John Marquand
-
Othello
the hero of William Shakespeare's tragedy who would not trust his wife
-
Pangloss
an incurable optimist in a satire by Voltaire
-
Pantaloon
a character in the commedia dell'arte; portrayed as a foolish old man
-
Perry Mason
fictional detective in novels by Erle Stanley Gardner
-
Peter Pan
the main character in a play and novel by J. M. Barrie; a boy who won't grow up
-
Pied Piper of Hamelin
the title character in a German folk tale and in a poem by Robert Browning
-
Pierrot
a male character in French pantomime; usually dressed in white with a whitened face
-
Pluto
a cartoon character created by Walt Disney
-
Huckleberry Finn
a mischievous boy in a novel by Mark Twain
-
Rip van Winkle
the title character in a story by Washington Irving about a man who sleeps for 20 years and doesn't recognize the world when he wakens
-
Ruritanian
an imaginary inhabitant of Ruritania
-
Tarzan of the Apes
a man raised by apes who was the hero of a series of novels by Edgar Rice Burroughs
-
Tom Sawyer
the boy hero of a novel by Mark Twain
-
Uncle Remus
the fictional storyteller of tales written in the Black Vernacular and set in the South; the tales were first collected and published in book form in 1880
-
Uncle Tom
a servile black character in a novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe
-
Uncle Sam
a personification of the United States government
-
Sherlock Holmes
a fictitious detective in stories by A. Conan Doyle
-
Simon Legree
the cruel slave dealer in an anti-slavery novel by Harriet Beecher Stowe
-
Sinbad the Sailor
in the Arabian Nights a hero who tells of the fantastic adventures he had in his voyages
-
Snoopy
a fictional beagle in a comic strip drawn by Charles Schulz
-
Ali Baba
the fictional woodcutter who discovered that `open sesame' opened a cave in the Arabian Nights' Entertainment
-
Emile
the boy whose upbringing was described by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
-
protagonist
the principal character in a work of fiction
-
Houyhnhnm
one of a race of intelligent horses who ruled the Yahoos in a novel by Jonathan Swift
-
Little John
legendary follower of Robin Hood; noted for his size and strength
-
Little Red Riding Hood
a girl in a fairy tale who meets a wolf while going to visit her grandmother
-
Rodya Raskolnikov
a fictional character in Dostoevsky's novel `Crime and Punishment'; he kills old women because he believes he is beyond the bounds of good or evil
-
Robin Hood
legendary English outlaw of the 12th century; said to have robbed the rich to help the poor
-
Robinson Crusoe
the hero of Daniel Defoe's novel about a shipwrecked English sailor who survives on a small tropical island
-
Rumpelstiltskin
a dwarf in one of the fairy stories of the brothers Grimm; tells a woman he will not hold her to a promise if she can guess his name and when she discovers it he is so furious that he destroys himself
-
Shylock
a merciless usurer in a play by Shakespeare
-
Tristram
(Middle Ages) the nephew of the king of Cornwall who (according to legend) fell in love with his uncle's bride (Iseult) after they mistakenly drank a love potion that left them eternally in love with each other
-
Iseult
(Middle Ages) the bride of the king of Cornwall who (according to legend) fell in love with the king's nephew (Tristan) after they mistakenly drank a love potion that left them eternally in love with each other
-
Scaramouche
a stock character in commedia dell'arte depicted as a boastful coward
-
Svengali
the musician in a novel by George du Maurier who controls Trilby's singing hypnotically
-
Sweeney Todd
fictional character in a play by George Pitt; a barber who murdered his customers
-
Trilby
singer in a novel by George du Maurier who was under the control of the hypnotist Svengali
-
Walter Mitty
fictional character created by James Thurber who daydreams about his adventures and triumphs
-
Yahoo
one of a race of brutes resembling men but subject to the Houyhnhnms in a novel by Jonathan Swift
-
King Arthur
a legendary king of the Britons (possibly based on a historical figure in the 6th century but the story has been retold too many times to be sure); said to have led the Knights of the Round Table at Camelot
-
Sir Galahad
(Arthurian legend) the most virtuous knight of the Round Table; was able to see the Holy Grail
-
Sir Gawain
(Arthurian legend) a nephew of Arthur and one of the knights of the Round Table
-
Guenevere
(Arthurian legend) wife of King Arthur; in some versions of the legend she became Lancelot's lover and that led to the end of the Knights of the Round Table
-
Sir Lancelot
(Arthurian legend) one of the knights of the Round Table; friend of King Arthur until (according to some versions of the legend) he became the lover of Arthur's wife Guinevere
-
Merlin
(Arthurian legend) the magician who acted as King Arthur's advisor
-
antagonist
the main character who opposes the protagonist in a narrative or play
-
type of:
-
imaginary being, imaginary creature
a creature of the imagination; a person that exists only in legends or myths or fiction
-
an actor's portrayal of someone in a play, film, etc...
-
synonyms:
part, persona, role, theatrical role
-
types:
- show 9 types...
- hide 9 types...
-
bit part, minor role
a small role
-
heavy
a serious (or tragic) role in a play
-
hero
the principal character in a play or movie or novel or poem
-
ingenue
the role of an innocent artless young woman in a play
-
name part, title role
the role of the character after whom the play is named
-
heroine
the main good female character in a work of fiction
-
baddie, villain
the principal bad character in a film or work of fiction
-
cameo
a brief appearance by a well-known actor in a movie or play
-
soubrette
a minor female role as a pert flirtatious lady's maid in a comedy
-
type of:
-
characterisation, characterization, enactment, personation, portrayal
acting the part of a character on stage; dramatically representing the character by speech and action and gesture
-
a written symbol that is used to represent speech“the Greek alphabet has 24 characters”
-
synonyms:
grapheme, graphic symbol
-
types:
- show 109 types...
- hide 109 types...
-
allograph
a variant form of a grapheme, as `m' or `M' or a handwritten version of that grapheme
-
check character
a character that is added to the end of a block of transmitted data and used to check the accuracy of the transmission
-
superior, superscript
a character or symbol set or printed or written above and immediately to one side of another character
-
inferior, subscript
a character or symbol set or printed or written beneath or slightly below and to the side of another character
-
ASCII character
any member of the standard code for representing characters by binary numbers
-
ligature
character consisting of two or more letters combined into one
-
capital, capital letter, majuscule, upper-case letter, uppercase
one of the large alphabetic characters used as the first letter in writing or printing proper names and sometimes for emphasis
-
lower-case letter, lowercase, miniscule, minuscule, small letter
the characters that were once kept in bottom half of a compositor's type case
-
type
printed characters
-
percent sign, percentage sign
a sign (`%') used to indicate that the number preceding it should be understood as a proportion multiplied by 100
-
asterisk, star
a star-shaped character (*) used in printing
-
dagger, obelisk
a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote
-
diesis, double dagger, double obelisk
a character used in printing to indicate a cross reference or footnote
-
alphabetic character, letter, letter of the alphabet
the conventional characters of the alphabet used to represent speech
-
blank, space
a blank character used to separate successive words in writing or printing
-
phonetic symbol
a written character used in phonetic transcription of represent a particular speech sound
-
mathematical symbol
a character that is used to indicates a mathematical relation or operation
-
rune, runic letter
any character from an ancient Germanic alphabet used in Scandinavia from the 3rd century to the Middle Ages
-
pictograph
a graphic character used in picture writing
-
ideogram, ideograph
a graphic character that indicates the meaning of a thing without indicating the sounds used to say it
-
radical
a character conveying the lexical meaning of a logogram
-
stenograph
a shorthand character
-
ASCII control character, control character
ASCII characters to indicate carriage return or tab or backspace; typed by depressing a key and the control key at the same time
-
small cap, small capital
a character having the form of an upper-case letter but the same height as lower-case letters
-
type family
a complete set of type suitable for printing text
-
case, face, font, fount, typeface
a specific size and style of type within a type family
-
ascender
a lowercase letter that has a part extending above other lowercase letters
-
descender
a lowercase letter that has a part extending below other lowercase letters
-
digram, digraph
two successive letters (especially two letters used to represent a single sound: `sh' in `shoe')
-
initial
the first letter of a word (especially a person's name)
-
A, a
the 1st letter of the Roman alphabet
-
B, b
the 2nd letter of the Roman alphabet
-
C, c
the 3rd letter of the Roman alphabet
-
D, d
the 4th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
E, e
the 5th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
F, f
the 6th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
G, g
the 7th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
H, h
the 8th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
I, i
the 9th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
J, j
the 10th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
K, k
the 11th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
L, l
the 12th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
M, m
the 13th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
N, n
the 14th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
O, o
the 15th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
P, p
the 16th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
Q, q
the 17th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
R, r
the 18th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
S, s
the 19th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
T, t
the 20th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
U, u
the 21st letter of the Roman alphabet
-
V, v
the 22nd letter of the Roman alphabet
-
W, double-u, w
the 23rd letter of the Roman alphabet
-
X, ex, x
the 24th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
Y, wye, y
the 25th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
Z, ezed, izzard, z, zed, zee
the 26th letter of the Roman alphabet
-
alpha
the 1st letter of the Greek alphabet
-
beta
the 2nd letter of the Greek alphabet
-
gamma
the 3rd letter of the Greek alphabet
-
delta
the 4th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
epsilon
the 5th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
zeta
the 6th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
eta
the 7th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
theta
the 8th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
iota
the 9th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
kappa
the 10th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
lambda
the 11th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
mu
the 12th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
nu
the 13th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
xi
the 14th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
omicron
the 15th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
pi
the 16th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
rho
the 17th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
sigma
the 18th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
tau
the 19th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
upsilon
the 20th letter of the Greek alphabet
-
phi
the 21st letter of the Greek alphabet
-
chi, khi
the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet
-
psi
the 23rd letter of the Greek alphabet
-
omega
the last (24th) letter of the Greek alphabet
-
aleph
the 1st letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
beth
the 2nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
gimel
the 3rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
daleth
the 4th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
he
the 5th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
waw
the 6th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
zayin
the 7th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
heth
the 8th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
teth
the 9th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
yodh
the 10th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
kaph
the 11th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
lamedh
the 12th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
mem
the 13th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
nun
the 14th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
samekh
the 15th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
ayin
the 16th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
pe
the 17th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
sadhe
the 18th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
qoph
the 19th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
resh
the 20th letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
sin
the 21st letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
shin
the 22nd letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
taw
the 23rd letter of the Hebrew alphabet
-
polyphone, polyphonic letter
a letter that has two or more pronunciations
-
block capital, block letter
a plain hand-drawn letter
-
thorn
a Germanic character of runic origin
-
logogram, logograph
a single written symbol that represents an entire word or phrase without indicating its pronunciation
-
vowel
a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken vowel
-
consonant
a letter of the alphabet standing for a spoken consonant
-
type of:
-
printed symbol, written symbol
a written or printed symbol
-
engrave or inscribe characters on
-
(genetics) an attribute (structural or functional) that is determined by a gene or group of genes
-
types:
-
unit character
(genetics) a character inherited on an all-or-none basis and dependent on the presence of a single gene
-
type of:
-
attribute
an abstraction belonging to or characteristic of an entity
-
unit character
Pronunciation
US
/ˈkɛr(ə)ktər/
UK
/ˈkæræktə/
Cite this entry
Style:
MLA
- MLA
- APA
- Chicago
A paragraph of text
Copy citationDISCLAIMER: These example sentences appear in various news sources and books to reflect the usage of the word ‘character'.
Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Vocabulary.com or its editors.
Send us feedback
Word Family
EDITOR'S CHOICE
Look up character for the last time
Close your vocabulary gaps with personalized learning that focuses on teaching the words you need to know.
