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How to spell characterization

Characterization is spelled C-H-A-R-A-C-T-E-R-I-Z-A-T-I-O-N.

hear itchar·ac·ter·i·za·tion/k,ɛrəktərɪz'eɪʃən/nounAcademic

What it means: The way an author describes and develops people in a story.

In a sentence: The book's characterization makes every character come to life.

The part people get wrong

Watch for an unstressed vowel that is hard to hear.

Also spelled: characterisation (accepted as correct).

Same family: character, characterize, characterized, characteristic. If you can spell one, the shared part carries to the others.

Where it comes from: “Characterization” comes from the Greek word “kharaktēr,” meaning an engraved mark or distinctive feature. Over time, it came to mean the way an author ‘marks out’ or defines a character’s unique traits in a story.

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