SYNONYMS AND RELATED EXPRESSIONS
discriminating
adjective
Able to recognize fine differences in quality or character.
Local English device voice, when available. This is not a recorded dictionary pronunciation.
Sensitive to fine distinctions
Closest synonyms
Related words and expressions
These extend or explain the idea and may require a different sentence structure.
Usage distinction
Return to topHere discriminating praises careful judgment; unfair treatment of groups is a different sense.
CHECK THE MEANING IN CONTEXT
See discriminating in use
A discriminating listener could hear the difference between the recordings.
At a student poster sale, Sal was perceptive enough to notice that a tiny change in spacing altered the mood of two otherwise similar designs. A discriminating buyer, she compared their printing quality and composition rather than choosing solely by size.
Compare an alternative with the original word in each passage. Shared meanings do not make every pair interchangeable.
Synonym reference scope and sources
The groups distinguish the senses selected for this study entry. Closest synonyms and broader related expressions have separate labels. The listed sources support lexical selection; not every phrase is a direct quotation from a source.
How the synonym reference was prepared / WordNet 3.0 license